A/HRC/17/39 “the major challenge at the close of the twentieth century is to begin the transition from a culture of war to this culture of peace: (a) a culture of social interaction and sharing, based on the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, tolerance and solidarity, (b) a culture that rejects violence, endeavours to prevent conflicts by tackling their roots and to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation, (c) a culture which guarantees everyone the full exercise of all rights and the means to participate fully in the endogenous development of their society.” D. Transdisciplinary project 6. UNESCO then established a transdisciplinary project in which its various sectors, including education, culture, communication and social science, contributed in a coordinated way to this challenge. E. UN General Assembly 7. Recognizing the importance of the UNESCO experience with a Culture of Peace, the 52nd United Nations General Assembly meeting in the fall of 1997 established a separate agenda item entitled “Towards a Culture of Peace” and requested the Secretary-General, in co-ordination with the UNESCO Director-General, to submit a report on its transdisciplinary project along with a draft declaration and programme of action on a Culture of Peace. The General Assembly also responded to the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and proclaimed the Year 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace with UNESCO as the focal point. F. The UNESCO Executive Board 8. Meeting in Tashkent at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan during its 155th session in November 1998, the UNESCO Executive Board adopted the “Tashkent Declaration for the Culture of Peace and UNESCO’s Action in Member States”. Aware of the “great responsibility that will devolve upon UNESCO during the International Year for the Culture of Peace” as well as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, the Executive Board issued an invitation to the Member States, the United Nations System and other intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations to celebrate the Year. It invited them to take “all necessary steps to ensure the success of the Year and thus to affirm the values of tolerance and mutual understanding and the values of combating poverty and exclusion, all of which are actions that will primarily be of benefit to women, young people and the least developed countries.” G. Beyond the year to a decade 9. In the fall of 1998, the 53rd General Assembly approved an ECOSOC recommendation, based on a proposal coming from all of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, to proclaim the decade of 2001 – 2010 as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. Thus, the Year 2000 should be seen as a new departure towards a long-term process of transformation. 36