Office of the President of the Office of the President of the Republic of EcuadorRepublic of Ecuador

PROGRAMME DOCUMENT

CULTURE OF PEACE OFFICE

Purpose of the project:Purpose of the project:

To carry out the initial activities of the Culture of Peace Office (OCP) by implementing projects for the formulation of policies and activities from the perspective of a culture of peace which may have an impact on the development and/or consolidation of values, attitudes and behaviours that promote the exercise of peace as a basis for human development in dignity.

Purpose of the project:Purpose of the project:

To coordinate initiatives that foster exchanges among civil society and its involvement in processes of multisectoral and intercultural dialogue.

Purpose of the project:Purpose of the project:

To formulate policies with a culture of peaceFocus, constituting transverse themes inall State policies.

Context:Context:

The solution to the border conflict permitspeace-building based on:

•Political decisions by the governments concerned•A border integration process•The promotion of free trade•Joint management of natural resources

Context:Context:

This new stage requires the coordinationof domestic efforts to build a CULTURE OFPEACE, which would strengthen nationalunity in diversity and promote democraticcoexistence in order to arrive at a StatePolicy conducive to long-term action and Management.

Context:Context:

The Culture of Peace Office is established asa body under public law, with legal status andits own assets and administrative system, Attached to the Office of the President of theRepublic, with headquarters in the city of Quitoand national jurisdiction, and authority to setup local or regional representative offices.

Context:Context:

It is established under the patronage of and with technical advice from the UNESCO Officein Ecuador and UNESCO Headquarters in Paris

Context:Context:

It coordinates its activities in general with all government authorities, in particular with the Ministry of External Relations, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance.

Justification:Justification:

OCP, as an arm of the Executive, seeks to generate values, attitudes and behaviours based on the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance and solidarity as the foundation of the process of national development.

Justification:Justification:

Its policies fall within the context of the International Year for the Culture of Peace.

Justification:Justification:

It is part of a strategy aimed at the strengthening of democracy, respect for human rights and the elimination of discriminatory attitudes.

The first phase of the project aims:The first phase of the project aims:

•To develop a set of guidelines on culture of peace policies and projects•To provide mechanisms and instruments conducive to the process of strengthening the institutional capacity of OCP•To secure institutional support to carry out activities designed to ensure coordination, complementarity and impact, from the perspective of the culture of peace

Implementation criteria:Implementation criteria:

•Identifying sectors that have the capacity and will to help bring about changes in values, behaviours and attitudes•Seeking synergies that enable project results to be enhanced or readjusted•Calling upon and securing the willingness of government institutions, the media, business, social organizations and international organizations to cooperate

Approaches:Approaches:

•Promoting and developing forums for multisectoral and intercultural dialogue•Attaining peace objective in the perspective of the economic, social and cultural development of the nation•Promoting and enhancing the components of a culture of peace between man and nature•Developing bilateral and multilateral relations and links•Plural and open participation

Strategic criteria:Strategic criteria:

•Strong political will that promotes the culture of peace perspective advocated by the Office of the President of the Republic as a transverse theme of State policies•Simple efficient structure with operational capacity•Capacity to make proposals for the preparation and conclusion of agreements and for the identification of synergies•Availability of economic resources as seed capital for making substantial long-term investments with a strong impact

Operational criteria:Operational criteria:

•Avoiding duplication with ongoing activities and seeking possible ways of securing complementarity and/or support•Concentrating efforts on the coordination of initiatives•Promoting institutional, social, corporate and group participation•Disseminating all activities, experience and studies•Supporting local, national, regional and international initiatives•Establishing a network of relations

Project profilesProject profiles

•Educating for peace

•Communication for peace

•Human development

EDUCATING FOR PEACEEDUCATING FOR PEACEObjectivesObjectives

•To identify, in the organization of the education system, forms and levels of discrimination and inequity which generate violence•To determine and propose reforms within the new national education structure•To design curricula by means of appropriate methodological strategies to provide systematic education from the perspective of a culture of peace•To design participatory campaigns in the education system from the perspective of a culture of peace•To design educational and training programmes from the perspective of a culture of peace for teachers and parents

COMMUNICATING FOR PEACECOMMUNICATING FOR PEACEObjectivesObjectives

•To determine and propose communication guidelines from the perspective of and in line with the objectives of the culture of peace•To identify, in the main media, the forms and types of treatment of the theme of violence and the main sources of violence at the societal and State levels•To disseminate and promote at different levels the factors conducive to a culture of peace, seeking to achieve concensus on ways of generating attitudes and values of respect, tolerance and non-violence in Ecuadorian society Continued …

COMMUNICATING FOR PEACECOMMUNICATING FOR PEACEObjectivesObjectives

•To promote opportunities for dialogue among the various actors representing the State, the private sector and civil society in order to identify and carry out joint initiatives which, from the perspective of peace, foster new forms and models of communication•To promote the commitment of a wide range of actors to the definition of codes of ethics and/or conduct•To encourage promotional and educational campaigns relating to culture of peace issues in the media

HUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN DEVELOPMENTObjectivesObjectives

•To promote peace as a prerequisite for the cultural, economic and social development of peoples and nations•To encourage ethnic, environmental and cultural particularities as factors which, in the quest for unity amid diversity, contribute to the development of the culture of peace•To encourage the ethnic, age and gender perspectives as basic factors for eradicating various forms of exclusion and social disqualification

Continued …

HUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN DEVELOPMENTObjectivesObjectives

•To promote the values as factors of investment in human development•To promote specific culture of peace projects involving indigenous peoples and local border communities•To promote and develop the components of a culture of peace between man and nature

““We are a peopleWe are a peoplewho love peace,who love peace,

freedom,freedom,democracy,democracy,

who know how to laugh,who know how to laugh,seek the truthseek the truth

and behave honourably”and behave honourably”

Jamil Mahuad

Office of the President of the Republic of Ecuador Office of the President of the Republic of Ecuador Culture of Peace OfficeCulture of Peace Office

Dr Ramon Torres GalarzaPrincipal Adviser. Author of the document

Julio BuenoDirector of OCP

With the support of:UNESCO – EcuadorDr Arvelop Garcia Rivas, RepresentativeMission to UNESCO ParisDr Gonzalo Abad

Ministry of External RelationsDr Benjamin Ortiz and Dr Francisco CarrionMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports and RecreationMs Rosangela Adoum Jaramillo

Quito, August 1999Document disseminated in the context of the first official visit of the President of the Ecuador to Peru