|
The idea of world peace is, in
itself, a relatively recent idea. Not so long ago, all over the world,
and in Europe in particular, every generation had had "its"
war. A certain fatalism towards war was rooted in our mentalities. War
was almost considered as inevitable and peace was only a vague utopian
dream. The first 20th century peace movements were born
between the two wars, that is in the twenties and thirties, and gave
rise to the League of Nations. Unfortunately, the League failed in its
quest because the member States had not succeeded in endowing the
League with the instruments needed to establish peace, such as our
modern-day peacekeepers. The rise in the nationalist movements of the
19th and 20th centuries that provoked the two
world wars played, according to some, a major role in the idea of
creating the conditions for world peace. World War I took the lives of
more than 9 million people, killing between 20% to 25% of the male
population of France and Germany. As for World War II, 55 million
people died, including 6 million Jews in the Nazi concentration camps.
Faced with the largest
catastrophes in human history, men and women around the planet began
to dream of a better, peaceful world.
Thus, shortly after World War
II, on October 24, 1945, 51 States ratified the United Nations Charter
with the hope of freeing our world from the possibility of war. The UN
was thus created and equipped with instruments that its predecessor
lacked. The UN established several programs intended to reduce, as
much as possible, all the factors leading to outbreaks in conflicts.
These programs did not only focus on peace keepers, who intervene
after a conflict has erupted, but also on economic and social
development, human rights, and the struggle to end world poverty and
hunger. Indeed, all of these United Nations programs contribute
directly or indirectly to the prevention of conflicts and thus to
peace on earth. It is certainly true that, in the last 50 years, not
everyone in the world has known peace, but it is gradually gaining
ground. The dream of peace in the world is becoming less and less
utopian and more and more attainable.
The three preceding fact
sheets presented the culture of peace in the context of our daily
lives; this one discusses peace at the international level. It
describes the role of United Nations agencies, programs and
departments in the prevention and peaceful resolution of international
conflicts. In addition to these institutions, other international
organizations are contributing to peace on earth, such as
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and regional organizations.
The Preamble to the United
Nations Charter clearly stipulates the mission of this organization.
The Preamble states that the United Nations was founded to prevent and
resolve international conflicts and help build a culture of peace in
the world. These intentions are reflected in the different agencies,
departments and programs of the United Nations.
The United Nations and Conflict Prevention
As part of the preparations
for the Millennium Summit that will be held this September, the
Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has published a
report entitled, " 'We the Peoples', The Role of the United
Nations in the 21st Century".
In this report, Mr. Annan emphasized the importance of preventing
conflicts so that we can live in a world free of fear.
There are many types of
conflicts, with diverse origins and numerous consequences. Conflicts
can occur among States or, conversely, within the same State. The
former often result from claims for such things as land or natural
resources, including water, oil or diamonds (e.g. Sierra Leone). On
the other hand, conflicts within a country generally stem from other
types of dissension. The sources can be ethnic, religious or
environmental in nature or be due to illiteracy or the unequal sharing
of resources. Indeed, poverty, the depletion of the natural and
economic resources of States, the weakness of political institutions,
and human rights violations are some of the causes of internal
conflicts.
Under the supervision of the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), specialized programs and
agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP -
www.undp.org), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO -www.unesco.org), the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP - www.unep.org),
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR -
wwwunhchr.ch), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR
- www.unog.ch/UNIDIR), and many others are trying to prevent deadly
conflicts from proliferating by attacking the roots of these conflicts
and not only the acts of violence that are the symptoms.
The UN is taking aim at
everything that could be at the source of conflicts. The prevention of
conflicts and the promotion of peace therefore take quite varied
forms. This UN work has become all the more necessary given that,
since World War II, weapons have become ever more deadly. And though
there is greater wealth in the world, its distribution is unequal.
This gap between rich and poor is visible everywhere and in all
countries, and is increasing, in particular, between
"Northern" and "Southern" countries.
The UNDP was created to help
solve this problem. Indeed, conflicts grow well in the fertile ground
of poverty. The UNDP is mandated to contribute to the elimination of
poverty, the social mobilization of women, respect for the environment
and the reinforcement of democratic institutions. The supervision of
elections illustrates this quite well. The UNDP is not alone in
attempting to accomplish its mission, as thousands of non-government
organizations (NGOs) are likewise contributing in one way or another.
Illiteracy also contributes to
the birth of new conflicts. Societies whose members have a minimal
level of education are less able to understand for whom it is voting
or the decisions made by its leaders. Indeed, illiteracy often creates
a rift between those in a society who are educated and those over
whom, consequently, the educated have power. It can likewise create a
gulf between the State and its citizens if the latter can be more
easily controlled because they ignore the goings-on of the society.
UNESCO is there to promote and give access to education, science,
culture and communication. UNESCO is also there to ensure that
justice, the law, human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected,
irrespective of race, sex, language or religion.
The breakout of modern-day
conflicts can also be related to the control of natural resources.
Better management of these resources could help avoid the breakout of
future conflicts. For example, the consequences of pollution can
rapidly degenerate and require greater international cooperation.
Pollution rarely takes into account the borders mapped out by men. The
acid rain in the United States and Canada, the pollution of a chemical
factory that flowed down the Danube River through several European
countries, and the oil spills that so often occur in the ocean after a
ship wreck, these are but a few of many sad examples. The last oil
spill in Canada occurred in 1988 off the shores of Newfoundland and
involved a tanker named Odyssey. These ecological catastrophes are
often due to the inability of countries to adopt common rules for
safety and the environment. This inability encourages certain
countries to adopt lenient regulations in order to encourage companies
to run part or all of their business from these countries.
Nonetheless, the most regular and largest oil spills occur in straits
between several countries. The English Channel, for instance, has seen
many substantial spills, as has the Bosporus Strait in Turkey, which
is part of a passage linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
It goes without saying that these spills create numerous problems
between States.
This is the context in which
the UNEP is working around the world to change mentalities about
ecology. It initiates and organizes multilateral conventions on the
environment and thus tries to further the international legal
framework for environmental protection. Greater international
cooperation will hopefully mean fewer catastrophes and, consequently,
fewer potential, environmentally related conflicts.
Respect for human rights is a
condition sine qua non for the establishment of peace on earth. On
December 10, 1948, the members of the United Nations adopted and
proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration
establishes basic rights for all human beings. Though human rights are
rarely observed in times of war, respect for human rights can keep
difficult situations from degenerating into armed conflict. The role
of the UNHCHR is thus to promote respect for human rights. This
organization must demonstrate, through concrete actions, the
international community's will and determination to ensure that human
rights are respected. Moreover, it tries to have international
conventions for human rights signed and ratified. For example, the
"Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals,
Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally
Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" was adopted by
the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998. UNHCHR
does not only inform us about the necessity to respect human rights.
It also works in the field to provide technical cooperation or help in
the training of police or the military. The UN is not the only
organization to work for the promotion of human rights. Just to name
two of many NGOs, there are IFHR, the International Federation of
Human Rights (www.ifhr.org), and AI, better known as Amnesty
International (www.amnesty.ca).
It goes without saying
that the counterpart of all conflicts is the availability of arms,
especially firearms. Since the dropping of the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 8, 1945, nuclear bombs have
sadly made gigantic progress, as has the technology of arms in
general. In his millennium report, Kofi Annan called on States to work
towards the elimination of all nuclear risk. The majority of States
spend too much on arms, and for some States, arms represent the main
part of their budget, to the detriment of other sectors such as
education and agriculture. The UN has a role to play in promoting
disarmament, which is essential for peace. The UN's department for
disarmament affairs reports on the state of the armament race in the
world and establishes disarmament standards and goals in cooperation
with other UN organisms. UNIDIR is conducting research into the
potential for a safer future and the possibility of organizing
seminars and conferences whose goal is to reach disarmament
agreements.
There are other UN
organizations that help promote a culture of peace. UNICEF, the
United Nations Children's Fund (www.unicef.org), helps to protect
the rights of children. It carries out both preventive initiatives
to help promote the education of children in developing countries
and protective actions to help children in times of war, when they
are often the most vulnerable victims. Indeed, if the future is to
be ensured, it is important that children be educated and not be
mistreated. Children ensure a country's future. Ensuring that
children are not mistreated helps both to develop a country's
capacities and to prevent, as much as is possible, the outbreak of
future conflicts.
UNFPA, the United Nations
Population Fund (www.unfpa.org), also helps to promote a culture
of peace by developing information programs for women, especially
with regard to sex education. It provides women in particular with
all the necessary information and resources. This allows them in
turn to make fully informed decisions and thereby contribute to a
better management of the planet's population. WHO, the World
Health Organization (www.who.int), promotes scientific cooperation
in health matters, helps reinforce health systems and assists
governments which ask for emergency aid. The provision of care to
populations in distress alleviates many ills, whether they be
physical or psychological. The WFP, the World Food Programme (www.wfp.org),
promotes better nutrition by using food aid to support economic
and social development. It is helped in this by the FAO, the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (www.fao.org),
which sets up programs to help foster greater agricultural
productivity, thereby fighting hunger and poverty around the
world. Hunger and poverty are two important factors in the
outbreak of conflicts.
All of these UN programs
are attempting, with the means that are available to them, to
prevent conflicts and have a world that is free of violence.
However, it will be some time before we reach this enviable state
on our planet. This being true, the UN will have to continue to
separate belligerents by intervening through peacekeeping
missions.
The UN Security Council is
the main organization of the United Nations dedicated to the
resolution of conflicts and peacekeeping. It is composed of
fifteen members, five of whom are permanent, namely China, France,
the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States,
and ten of which are elected by the General Assembly every two
years.
When the Security Council
is confronted with a problem that can represent a threat for
international peace and safety, it must first try to resolve the
problem peacefully. In the past, the Security Council has acted as
mediator or, in cases of armed conflict, proposed a cease-fire.
The Council can also reinforce its decisions by enacting
sanctions. According to the report " 'We the
Peoples'...", sanctions are a way for the Council to apply
its decisions, constituting a step between a simple condemnation
and armed intervention. Sanctions can include an arms embargo,
trade and finance restrictions, the ceasing of air and sea
contact, or diplomatic isolation. Furthermore, the council can
also opt for measures that call for more people and material.
Peacekeeping missions
allow the Security Council to watch over the cease-fire and
participate in the creation of conditions for peace. On a few rare
occasions, the Security Council has authorized member States to
use all the necessary means to keep the peace, including
collective military action.
General Indar Jit Rktye,
the former president of the International Peace Academy who has
participated in several peacekeeping missions, defines peace
keeping as being "the prevention, limitation, moderation and
cessation of hostilities between or within States due to the
intervention of a third party, which is organized and directed at
the international level and which calls upon military, police and
civilian personnel to restore peace."
Up until the end of the
Cold War, the UN only intervened in the majority of cases if the
conflict involved two or more States. This is known as the
principle of non-interference. The principle of State sovereignty
was "officially" adhered to more than it is today. The
first UN mission began in 1948 in Palestine and is still in place.
It was baptised UNTSO, the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization in Palestine. The missions have changed considerably
since then. Indeed, UNTSO was only made up of observers mandated
to observe whether the truce was obeyed. However, with the
insistence of Lester B. Pearson, UNEF I, the fist United Nations
Emergency Force, was set up during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956.
It was the start of veritable peacekeeping missions supported by
military, police and civilian contingents.
Since the end of the Cold
War, peacekeeping has undergone a new change. The operations now
occur more and more often within one country. There are several
reasons behind this. First of all, due to a greater access to
information, international public opinion and governments are more
aware of what is happening in a country than in the past. Now when
images of extraordinary violence reach us, we no longer accept
that such barbarous conflicts take place, be they religious or
ethnic in origin and whether or not they occur within a single
country. This was the case for Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor
and, more recently, Sierra Leone. Not so long ago, we would not
even have been aware of conflicts such as these, which occur
within a single country.
The other reason comes
from the establishment by former colonial powers of State models
in countries that had no tradition of this kind. Totally arbitrary
borders were laid down, bringing together different ethnic groups,
some of which were able to impose their will on others due to
their number and education. We can no longer allow the powers that
be of a State to dictate to other minorities. We must establish or
impose peace so as to stop belligerents from committing greater
massacres. However, this demands a stronger, more interventionist
approach in defiance of State sovereignty and the principle of
non-interference. To accomplish this, peacekeeping missions must
have greater capabilities. They must be able to rebuild, disarm,
supervise elections and ensure that human rights are respected.
Intervening is no longer enough. After such missions, democratic
institutions that have never existed or that were destroyed must
be rebuilt and be capable of ensuring equal rights for all
citizens. This is the type of mission that took place in Kosovo
and East Timor.
Still, it may be very
difficult to establish a durable peace if justice has not first
been obtained. There is often no judicial apparatus left in a
country coming out of a conflict. The UN is therefore working to
equip itself with the effective institutions needed to fill the
institutional void in countries that are rebuilding after a
conflict.
The creation of the ICC,
the International Criminal Court (www.un.org/law/icc/), would
allow us to fill this void. Indeed, if this court is not created,
the horrible actions committed by certain individuals during
conflicts will never be subject to legal proceedings.
The creation of ad hoc tribunals, such as those for the
former Yugoslavia and Rwanda based on the post-World War II
Nuremberg Tribunal, have made it possible to judge people who have
committed crimes against humanity. Sometimes, however, these
tribunals have been accused of not being completely impartial. It
is true that these tribunals were established for specific
conflicts. Perhaps, given the fact that the UN has been
considering the creation of the ICC for more than 50 years now,
these ad hoc tribunals will, some day soon, no longer be
necessary.
In addition to the ICC is
the ICJ, the International Court of Justice. This court was
created to resolve conflicts between States, whereas the ICC deals
exclusively with the responsibility of individuals. However,
because there are so few States that are ready to bring their
differences before this court and accept its authority, this
institution has had little impact. In fact, only 20 cases per year
are submitted to it, whereas the Supreme Court of Canada handles
at least 10 times more cases per year.
In post-conflict
situations, all the above-mentioned UN organizations are naturally
present in the field, offering relief to local populations,
rebuilding infrastructures, training civil servants and trying to
ensure respect for human rights. UNHCR, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (www.unhcr.org), is responsible for the
relocation of refugees, and supervises the work conducted in the
field. Humanitarian NGOs are there as well and help the local
populations to live peacefully. The Canadian Red Cross (www.redcross.ca),
the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (www.ifrc.org), OXFAM
(www.oxfam.ca in English and www.oxfam.qc.ca
in French), Care Canada (www.care.ca)
and Ingénieurs
sans frontière (engineers
without borders, www.isfq.qc.ca), these are but a few of the
thousands of NGOs of this type.
Because most international
organizations participate in the prevention and resolution of
international conflicts, they help to build a culture of peace. It
is worth noting, moreover, that to be successful, conflict
prevention and resolution operations require cooperation among
States, national organizations and individuals. Organizations such
as OAU, the Organization of African Unity (www.oau-oua.org), the
Organization of American States (OAS -www.oas.org), the
Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE -www.osce.org),
and many others play a major role at the regional level in the
prevention of conflicts.
Individual people also
play an essential role in the culture of peace, even at the
international level. Indeed, national organizations and
institutions are composed of men and women who produce standards
that can be changed to meet new needs. It is up to each citizen to
establish a culture of peace, beginning at home and working up to
international institutions. Peace in the world is possible and is
progressing everywhere. However, we must all continue to strive to
ensure that the progression of peace continues.
Activities
1.
United Nations Simulations:
Organize or participate in a United Nations simulation. This type
of activity makes it easier to understand how the UN operates.
2.
Security Council Simulation:
Organize or participate in a Security Council simulation. Smaller
than the United Nations simulation, this type of activity
nonetheless makes it easier to understand how the Security Council
operates and the role it plays in international peacekeeping.
3.
Parliament Simulation:
Organize or participate in a Canadian or provincial parliament
simulation. This type of activity makes it easier to understand
how our political system operates and how conflicts are resolved.
4.
Unfair Supper: Organize a
supper where people are served different quantities and qualities
of food. The groups are unfairly divided by using numbers or other
means. The goal of this activity is to make people understand how
the unequal distribution of wealth and food can lead to violence.
5.
The Water Game: The goal of
this game is to accumulate the amount of drinking water
needed for the well being of your population.
|
![[The UN and Culture of Peace Banner]](culturepeacesm.jpg)
![[Francais]](textfrancais.gif){kind=small}
![[UNA-Canada Index]](tool1.gif)
![[About UNA-Canada]](tool2.gif)
![[Français Accueil]](tool5.gif)
![[Join UNA-Canada]](tool3.gif)
![[Contact UNA-Canada]](tool4.gif)