A/53/370

50. Because the draft programme of action requested by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 52/13 is intended as an integral approach to promoting a culture of peace, including the prevention of violent conflict, for the entire United Nations System and its Member States, the UNESCO Director-General invited the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the heads of the other international agencies, including the United Nations Specialized Agencies, to contribute to its preparation. In response, many suggestions were received from them, as well as those coming from the UNESCO, its Executive Board and directly from the Member States. These suggestions, which are reflected in the following section, form the basis of the programme of action presented at the beginning of this report.

51. The outline of proposals follows the basic principles of a culture of peace described in resolution 52/13: 'respect for human rights, democracy and tolerance, the promotion of development, education for peace, the free flow of information and the wider participation of women'. In addition, bearing in mind that the actions to promote international peace and security which are conceived in the Charter and developed in the practice of the United Nations are complementary to actions for a culture of peace, their coordination is considered in a separate section. Finally, consideration is given to proposals for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, 2000, during which time the programme of action may be launched.

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