The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 1999. This occurred after ten months of negotiations in the context of preparations for the International Year for the Culture of Peace.
UN resolution A/53/243.[1] called for the programme of action to include eight action areas:
- Culture of peace through education
- Sustainable economic and social development
- Respect for all human rights
- Equality between women and men
- Democratic participation
- Understanding, tolerance[2] and solidarity
- Participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge
- International peace and security
As explained by UNESCO, "each of these areas of action have been priorities of the United Nations since its foundation; what is new is their linkage through the culture of peace and non-violence into a single coherent concept. Linkages have often been made (for example, democracy, development and peace; equality between women and men with development and peace, and so forth). This is the first time, however, that all these areas are interlinked so that the sum of their complementarities and synergies can be developed."[3]