A Struggle toward Dialogue in the Right to Peace

Last week, April 20-24, IIMA and VIDES participated in the third session of the intergovernmental working group on the Declaration of the Right to Peace. This is the last session before the text of the Declaration is presented before the Human Rights Council, so it was in everyone’s interest to come to a consensus by Friday night, though it is unclear what will actually be the final version until the Human Rights Council meets.

Led by Chairperson Christian Guillermet-Fernandez, Ambassador of Costa Rica, the Working Group took various forms, sometimes formal debate, other times through informal negotiations and consultations. The major point of conflict, unfortunately not a new one, was whether or not the right to peace even exists as a legal human right to be protected at all. Those against acknowledging the right consisted of the United States, Australia, South Africa, the European Union, Canada, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, while those in favor were the basically all the remaining countries in attendance, led by Tunisia, Iran, Russian Federation, Brazil, Cuba, India, and Uruguay.

On Tuesday morning, IIMA and VIDES issued an intervention to call special attention to peace education within the Right to Peace and the role of young people as the promise of changing societies for the better. The global challenges faced by young people have been unequivocally recognized by the international community. To address these challenges, IIMA and VIDES suggest that this working group also focus on the rights of youth to place them high on the list of priorities, as protagonists and not as mere objects of governmental measures and actions. The intervention was supported by United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), and the language regarding education was proposed by Cuba and supported by Brazil. The language is included in two paragraphs of the Preamble of the final document.