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On 20 November 2023, the 194 UNESCO Member States adopted the Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development at UNESCO's General Conference. This is the only global standard-setting instrument that lays out how education should be used to bring about lasting peace and foster human development through 14 guiding principles.
The Recommendation is unique in bringing together all dimensions of education and linking different thematic areas, from digital technologies and climate change to gender issues and fundamental freedoms. The newly adopted text updates the "1974" Recommendation that almost 50 years ago united Member States in positioning education as a key driver of peace and international understanding. For the past two years, UNESCO has been revising this visionary tool to ensure it responds to today's greatest challenges and future shocks.
"Today, when crises polarize our societies, when the multipolar world order continues to be the scene of violent conflicts, education must more than ever remain a defensive bulwark against the fractures of the world and a foundation for lasting peace,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. “It is this same conviction that continues to drive UNESCO's action.”
Helping to build more peaceful, just, equal, equitable, inclusive, democratic, healthy, and sustainable societies, the Recommendation will become a tool for all education stakeholders to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
A vision of education for humanity and peace
The Recommendation acknowledges that peace is built not only through international negotiations, but also on school benches, in school yards and sports fields, through arts and science education, and throughout life. Education in all its forms and dimensions, in and out of schools, shapes how we see the world and treat others, and it can, and should, be a pathway to constructing lasting peace. To realize these ambitions, the new text outlines what exactly needs to change in approaches to education and how. It defines 14 guiding principles which should shape the transformation of education systems in the decades to come.
The revised text, a product of the broad consensus reached by Member States earlier this summer, was the first item discussed at the Education Commission. 194 UNESCO Member States unanimously agreed to recommend it for adoption by the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference. Close to forty countries took the floor to express their unwavering support for the updated Recommendation. They also praised the inclusive and participatory revision process, which created a climate of trust between countries and allowed them to finally adopt the text by consensus.
"Our world needs a message of peace now more than ever. Education can nurture connections between people. In our current context, we cannot miss this opportunity to state loud and clear that – here at UNESCO – Member States agree on a vision of education serving humanity and peace. With the dedication and hard work of country delegations, we managed to shape the text into a document…that every Member State can call its own," said Prof. Charles Bosire, permanent delegate of Kenya to UNESCO and Chair of the Bureau in charge of the Revision of the 1974 Recommendation.
While Member States will be responsible for its application at the national level, UNESCO will support their implementation processes and undertake regular reporting on their efforts.
What is unique about the revised Recommendation?
