A/HRC/14/38 Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination stated in its preamble that discrimination between human beings on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin was an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations among nations and was capable of disturbing peace and security among peoples and the harmony of persons living side by side even within one and the same State. She also noted that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women provided that the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace required the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also reaffirmed the crucial role that human rights in general played in creating fair and equal societies founded upon freedom, justice, development and peace. 6. The Deputy High Commissioner recalled that in the 2005 World Summit Outcome the General Assembly had acknowledged that, among others, peace and security, development and human rights were the foundations for collective security and well-being. Moreover, peace and respect for human rights, along with the right to the rule of law and gender equality, among others, were interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Furthermore, the General Assembly had reaffirmed that the promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all were essential to advance development and peace and security. 7. Concerning the issue of the diverse dimensions of the right of peoples to peace, the Deputy High Commissioner indicated that the notion of the right of peoples to peace should be understood in a wider context, including through the experiences of United Nations organs’ practice concerning peace and security, disarmament and peacekeeping. All those different aspects had a bearing on the effective enjoyment of human rights, including through the recognition of the effects of armed conflict and other forms of violence on fundamental human rights. 8. The Deputy High Commissioner concluded by recalling that respect for human rights was often more critical in times of conflict, noting that many of the worst human rights violations, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, occurred in situations of armed conflict and other forms of violent situations. Accountability for gross human rights violations was a crucial component of human rights and could often be conducive to peace. She noted that the protection of human rights and, therefore, the creation of a stable and peaceful environment, were significantly advanced when individuals were held to account for their acts. The challenge was to reflect on more effective ways to ensure that the conditions for all individuals to enjoy their individual human rights were created in all situations. II. Session 1: Different dimensions of the right of peoples to peace 9. The first panel started with a presentation by Vera Gowlland-Debbas, an honorary professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, who recalled that the expansion and increasing complexity of international law had led to a greater need for overarching principles to sustain the unity of the system as a whole. The development of a right to peace, for instance, was not contained in the framework of human rights but was dependent on the links which were being forged between human rights and humanitarian law on the one hand, and between the Charter of the United Nations, the normative framework on the use of force, disarmament or arms control, development and the regime of international peace and security on the other. She noted that the right to peace had never been formalized into a treaty. No international human rights instrument as such mentioned the right to peace in its operative provisions, except for the African Charter on Human and 4 GE.10-12138