GENEVA DECLARATION

PREAMBLE

CONSIDERING:

• • The United Nations Charter (1945);
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948);
  • The Declaration and Program of Action for a Culture of Peace (1999);
  • The Millennium Declaration (2000);
  • The Paris Agreement (2015);
  • General Assembly Resolution 71/189 entitled “Declaration on the Right to Peace” (December 19, 2016);
  • The Paris Declaration of the non-governmental organization International Alâwiyya Sufi Association (AISA International NGO) (2017);
  • United Nations General Assembly Resolution 72/130, unanimously adopted, proclaiming May 16 as the International Day for Living Together in Peace (December 8, 2017) presented by Algeria;
  • The Düsseldorf Declaration: Living Together in Cities – Mayors commit to diversity and inclusion (2019);
  • The Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy (1994);
  • The Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generations Towards Future Generations (1997);
  • UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001);
  • The Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003);
  • The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2021);
  • The Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development (2023);
  • Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959);
  • The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979);
  • The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989);
  • The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011) :
  • The United Nations General Assembly Resolution on policies and programs involving youth (2021);
  • The World Program for Human Rights Education Plan of Action (2006);
  • The United Nations World Program of Action for Youth (2010);
  • The Inchon Declaration and Framework for Action: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all (2015);
  • The Berlin Declaration on Education for Sustainable Development (2021);
  • The Paris Declaration: a global call to invest in the future of education (2021)
  • The Youth Declaration on Transforming Education (2022);
  • The Tashkent Declaration and Commitments to Action on Transforming Education and Early Childhood Care (2022);

WHEREAS:

• The 7th edition of the IDLTP/JIVEP, celebrated in Geneva on May 16, 2024, brought together UN member-states, NGOs, schools, and civil society to advocate for the integration of Education for a Culture of Peace into school curricula and learning.

AFFIRMING THAT:

• Peace is a state of being based on the values of Living Together and Acting Together in Peace, and not simply the absence of war or conflict;
• Education for a Culture of Peace is a decisive lever for dealing with the multiple crises that threaten young people and future generations in particular, placing us in a situation of obvious planetary emergency;
• These structural crises call for equally structural responses, requiring a fresh look at the world and a re-examination of existing paradigms, to give birth to a new universal consciousness in the service of Peace;

Consequently, we, the signatory-partners of the present Geneva Declaration, gathered in a network, commit ourselves to implement this Declaration in accordance with the articles set out below.

ARTICLE 1
Common frame of reference

This Geneva Declaration represents our common frame of reference. With specific reference to the Sustainable Development Goals “Quality Education” (SDG 4) and “Peace, Justice and Effective Institutions” (SDG 16), it provides guidelines and proposals for realizing a shared vision aimed at placing Peace at the heart of education and learning.

ARTICLE 2
Peace at the heart of Education

The present Declaration commits us to mobilize all our efforts for the integration of Education for a Culture of Peace into all teaching and learning programs, throughout life.

ARTICLE 3
Development and promotion of CPE pedagogy

The present Declaration commits us to collaborate in synergy to contribute to the development and promotion of the pedagogy of Education for a Culture of Peace, in particular by setting up training courses for teachers and educators.

ARTICLE 4
Development of the ECP partner network

This Declaration commits us to:

• • inform, raise awareness among and mobilize all stakeholders (educational institutions, educators, teachers, parents, decision-makers, civil society, companies and citizens worldwide);
  • invite all stakeholders to become partners and to synergize all our knowledge, assets and technologies in the service of our common vision.

ARTICLE 5
Schools of Peace and the International Academy of Peace

The present Declaration commits us to work together to develop the network of Schools of Peace and the creation of an International Academy of Peace dedicated to Education for a Culture of Peace.
The creation of Schools of Peace throughout the world, where the values of savoir-vivre and the peaceful resolution of conflicts are taught, aims to form new generations of free citizens, responsible and committed to building their future, with each other and not against each other.
The International Academy of Peace aims to play a central role in the implementation of the present Declaration, by providing a collective space of exchange and resources dedicated to the teaching of the Culture of Peace, offering training programs to teachers, educators, parents and decision-making authorities. In particular, the Academy aims to strengthen and promote Living Together and Acting Together in Peace, mediation, and economic Peace at all levels of society.

ARTICLE 6
Promotion and evaluation

The present Declaration commits us to organizing, each year around the International Day for Living Together in Peace, an international conference for the exchange of practices and pedagogical proposals in order to promote Education for a Culture of Peace and include it in educational policies worldwide.

ARTICLE 7
Culture of Peace Education: a universal fundamental right

The present Declaration commits us to work for the recognition of Culture of Peace Education as a fundamental human right.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF we the undersigned partners, sign the present Geneva Declaration,

DONE at Geneva, this Thursday, May sixteenth, two thousand and twenty-four.