Educating Toward a Culture of Peace

Book excerpt: This volume on "Education towards a Culture of Peace" is a timely undertaking, since the United Nations has proclaimed the years 2001-2010 as the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World." A culture of peace as defined by the UN is "a set of values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and nations". (UN Resolutions A/RES/52/13 1998: Culture of Peace and A/RES/53/243, 1999: Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace). Most of the chapters in this book are based on lectures that were presented at the International Conference, "Education towards a Culture of Peace". This conference was convened on 1-3 December 2003, by the The Josef Burg Chair in Education for Human Values, Tolerance and Peace - UNESCO Chair on Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance School of Education, at Bar Ilan University, Israel. This conference was held under the auspices of Israel National Commission for UNESCO and supported also by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, The office of Public Affairs of the US Embassy Tel Aviv, Fulbright – United States – Israel Educational Foundation.