A/HRC/17/39 threats of war would contribute to the establishment of circumstances propitious to development, and that international peace and security are essential elements for the realization of the right to development. 54. Furthermore, States should take steps to eliminate obstacles to development resulting from failure to observe civil and political and economic, social and cultural rights, and should use resources freed by disarmament for comprehensive development.54 55. In 1999, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace,55 which served as the basis for the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. Member States were encouraged to take actions to promote a culture of peace at the national level, as well as at the regional and international levels. Civil society was to be involved at all levels to widen the scope of activities on a culture of peace. 56. The Millennium Development Declaration contains various references to peace as an important objective of the United Nations. In particular, section II emphasizes the nexus between peace, security and disarmament as well as between human rights, democracy and good governance. In the Declaration, Member States agreed to ensure greater policy coherence and better cooperation between the United Nations, its agencies, the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization, as well as other multilateral bodies, with a view to achieving a fully coordinated approach to the problems of peace and development.56 This corresponds to Millennium Development Goal targets 8 B and C, which demands that States deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures. Furthermore, States undertook the obligation to develop an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system that includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction – both nationally and internationally.57 Proposed standards 1. Peoples and individuals have a right to State policies that pursue peace and security and development as interlinked and mutually reinforcing, and as serving as a basis for one another. The obligation to promote comprehensive and sustainable economic, social, cultural and political development implies the obligation to eliminate threats of war and, to that end, to strive towards disarmament, and the free and meaningful participation of the entire population in this process. 2. The realization of the human right to peace and the eradication of structural violence require that all individuals and peoples enjoy the inalienable right to participate in economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms may be fully exercised, as well as to contribute to and enjoy that development.58 3. All peoples and individuals should enjoy freedom from want in order to live in peace. They should enjoy the right to sustainable development and economic, social and cultural rights and, in particular: 54 55 56 57 58 Ibid., arts. 3 (3) and 7. General Assembly resolution 53/243 (1999). General Assembly resolution 55/2, sect. VIII. Ibid., paras. 13 and 16. Santiago Declaration, art. 4, para. 1. 15