Moving towards a sustainable peace: a reflection on the United Nations’ work

 Moving towards a sustainable peace: a reflection on the United Nations’ work

I

A society based on peace, solidarity and tolerance among peoples is what all cultures have traditionally advocated. The peace concept and the idea of living in peace with one’s surroundings permeate the whole cultures. The human beings’ relationship to the universe may not be based on conflicts or longing for conquests. It has to be founded on the notion of peace and the feeling of rapprochement. Peace has an important role in the relationship to other people. The most important principles in the peace concept are equality, justice and brotherliness. 
In accordance with the Islamic heritage, peace, freedoms, justice and integrity are the principal sources for legislation. This conception of peace has framed the drafting processes of the recent Constitutions of Bahrein, Oman or Saudi Arabia. 

Consequently, the concepts of peace, justice, security and co-operation as inspiring principles were included in the Preamble of some Constitutions. While Bahrein and Kuwait undertakes to pursue justice and world peace for the whole of mankind, Oman recognizes in its Constitution the need to strengthen its role in establishing the foundations of peace, security, justice and co-operation between different States and peoples. 
For all the Gulf States the pursuit of peace along with the defense of their own security, integrity, solidarity and co-operation among States has been included in their Constitutions as main principles of its political systems and foreign policy. 

In addition, some Constitutions have also progressively elaborated the content and scope of peace. In fact, some constitutional legal systems have prohibited the offensive war and occupation –Kuwait-, and others have promoted the duty to strengthen cooperation and good-neighborly relations between states, the principle of non-interference, the promotion of human rights, the non-proliferation of weapons, the self-determination of peoples, the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the preservation of independence and sovereignty – Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates-.

This notion of cooperation, embodied in all Constitutions of the Gulf States, was set out in the Charter of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which was signed on 26 May 1981, following a meeting between the heads of state of six Gulf countries held in Abu Dhabi. The Charter lays down the GCC’s basic objectives, which include promoting cooperation among the countries of the Gulf region, strengthening relations between them, and achieving coordination and integration across a range of diverse fields. 

The GCC Charter recognizes that the basic objectives of the Cooperation Council are: firstly, to effect coordination, integration and inter-connection between Member States in all fields in order to achieve unity between them; secondly, to deepen and strengthen relations, links and areas of cooperation now prevailing between their peoples in various fields; thirdly, to formulate similar regulations in various fields –education and culture- and fourthly, to stimulate scientific and technological progress and to establish scientific research. 

In 2014, the GCC Supreme Council approved the Declaration on the human rights of the Cooperation Council of the Arab Gulf at the conclusion of its 25th Summit in Doha. The declaration stems from the member states’ deep belief in human dignity and respect for his rights as well as their commitment to protecting human rights, which embodies the values and noble principles entrenched in the conscience of the GCC communities, as well as the foundations of their policies at all levels. Finally, it highlights the commitment to what is stated in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Arab Charter of Human Rights and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, and the relevant international and regional conventions and agreements.
The close interrelationship between human rights and world peace based on freedom and justice led the League of Arab States to recognize in article 35 of the 2004 Arab Charter of Human Rights the right of all citizens to live in an intellectual and cultural environment in which human rights are sanctified and in which racial, religious and other forms of discrimination are rejected and international cooperation and the cause of world peace are supported.

This book entitled “Moving towards a sustainable peace: a reflection on the United Nations’ work” includes a series of papers published by the Elaph in the past editorials on the main challenges, contradictions, dilemmas, debates and successes of the United Nations. The papers will also show that the pursuit of global agreements based on the dialogue and cooperation among all different regional groups and States has been the tendency not only in international relations, but the United Nations. In this context, this book will bring to the Arab region, and in particular the Gulf, the current debates happening within the United Nations in the understanding that the notion of peace elaborated by the United Nations since its creation goes beyond to the use of violence or force. 

The book shall include an introduction to the United Nations system, in which the outlaw of war and conflict will be studied in light of the experience gained by the League of Nations and the United Nations on this matter in the past years. An approach to the work performed by the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council will be also analysed taking into account that the notion of peace is strongly linked to the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including development. Since the creation of the United Nations the progressive elaboration of international law has been conceived as a means to promote lasting peace worldwide through the friendly relations among nations. 
The book shall be divided in two different parts: 

Firstly, the prevention of conflicts and peacebuilding in light of the United Nations, in which the efforts of the international community to create a world free of scourge of war and conflict and the role of mediation and good offices for achieving this purpose will be duly taken into account. The founding principles of the United Nations, such as freedom, justice and equality, will be deeply analysed in light of the existing standard-setting instruments. The interconnectivity between peace, sustainable development, and human rights, the importance of conflict prevention to peacebuilding efforts, and the need for organizational reform within the UN system will be also studied. The challenges of the nuclear energy and weapons and the role by the United Nations on this relevant topic will be elaborated. 

Secondly, the book will focus its attention in some of the following on-going debates on peace and human rights happening currently within the United Nations, namely: the universal protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms as a requirement to promote peace worldwide; democracy and rule of law as vital requirements for peace, development and the promotion and protection of all human rights; the United Nations World Summit on the information society; the safety of journalist; the freedom of expression and countering hate speech on Internet to prevent youth radicalization; the challenges posed by migrants and refugees on the field of peace and security in the world; the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous people; the role played by education in countering violent extremism; the countering of violence and violent extremism through the United Nations system; the promotion of  peace through the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance; the fight against terrorism; social justice as a basis of universal peace; the role played by women and youth as peace-builders; the prevention and punishment of genocide and finally, the recent adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Peace by the General Assembly of the United Nations. 

In many societies peace is not an abstract poetic concept, but rather a down-to-earth and practical concept. Peace is conceived not only in relation to conflict and war, but also as a purpose or objective to be progressively realized in connection to freedom, justice, equality, dignity, security and stability. Therefore, this book pretends to positively contribute to the 2005 New Vision for the Muslim World: Solidarity in Action adopted in the third Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Saudi Arabia). The Conference stressed that dialogue among civilizations based on mutual respect, understanding and equality among people is a prerequisite for establishing a world marked by tolerance, cooperation, peace and confidence among nations. Consequently, this current reflection on the UN’s work shall permit to delve more into the idea of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post conflict peace-building as a part of the UN collective security system.

II

In light of the 2005 New Vision for the Muslim World: Solidarity in Action adopted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Saudi Arabia), which stressed that dialogue among civilizations based on mutual respect, understanding and equality among people is a prerequisite for establishing a world marked by tolerance, cooperation, peace and confidence among nations, the current reflection on the UN’s work included in the book shall permit to delve more into the idea of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post conflict peace-building as a part of the UN collective security system.
Inspired in the 1981 Charter of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the 2004 Arab Charter of Human Rights and the 2014 Declaration on the human rights of the Cooperation Council of the Arab Gulf, this book includes a series of topics which show that the pursuit of global agreements based on the dialogue and cooperation has been the tendency not only in international relations, but the United Nations. 

In this context, this book brings to the Arab region, and in particular the Gulf, the current debates happening within the United Nations with the purpose of studying those possible elements or components aimed at moving towards a sustainable peace in the world. The experience of the United Nations shows that the notion of peace elaborated in the past decades since 1945 goes beyond to the use of violence or force.

This book concludes that the outlaw of war and conflict were declared as main principles of international law in both the League of Nations and the United Nations. The Charter of the United Nations states clearly that the threat or use of force against other States is unlawful. Since 1945, war has no longer been an acceptable way to settle differences between States.

Despite of difficulties, dilemmas and tragic failures occurred in the last 70 years, the message which emerges from the Charter of the United Nations still shines in the world with the same intensity as in the past. The original vision enshrined in the Charter is a source of inspiration for those new impulses of peace, which continues to emerge in the world. To achieve this noble peace vision, the United Nations offers its experience and multilateralism to promote the principles and values of humanity and world peace. United Nations is the indispensable common house of the entire human family.

In this sense, the book analyzes the work performed by the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council taking into account that the recent practice has stressed the strong linkage and interdependence of peace and security with broader conditions of social development. Consequently, peace and prosperity are indivisible and lasting peace and security requires effective cooperation for the eradication of poverty and the promotion of a better life.
The book also outlines that since the creation of the United Nations the progressive development and codification of the principles of international law concerning friendly relations and co-operation among States should be elaborated through the promotion of international cooperation in economic, social and related fields and the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In its first part, the book envisages the following possible measures aimed at preventing and creating a world free of scourge of war and conflict in compliance with the United Nations system. Firstly, Chapter VI of the Charter, which is devoted to the pacific settlement of disputes, states that the parties to any dispute shall seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful means of their own choice. The United Nations has repeatedly called all parties involved in conflict to work for the urgent achievement of a solution. 

Secondly, the founding principles of the United Nations, such as freedom, justice and equality, have extensively been elaborated in the different existing standard-setting instruments. These three principles are extensively codified by consensus at the United Nations. The consensus-based approach guarantees the existing pluralism within the United Nations on the one hand, while promoting intercommunal harmony among different societies on the other. Although the ongoing consensus appears fragile from time to time, these large agreements among regional groups should be seen in a positive light and nurtured. 

Thirdly, the three UN pillars have been recognized by the United Nations as a fundamental element aimed to promoting peace. The different UN bodies emphasize that peace and security, development and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations system and the foundations for collective security and well-being. Therefore, it follows that the three UN pillars are strongly linked to the issue of the maintenance of global security and stability.

Fourthly, both the General Assembly and Security Council have recently initiated a global debate on the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. Both UN bodies stressed that international human rights standards offer a global transversal normative framework essential to prevent and address conflicts, whilst recognizing that the specific realization of human rights may vary across contexts.

Fifthly, the United Nations has sought to eliminate nuclear weapons ever since its establishment. The first resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1946 established a Commission to deal with problems related to the discovery of atomic energy among others. The Commission was to make proposals for, inter alia, the control of atomic energy to the extent necessary to ensure its use only for peaceful purposes. 

In its second part, the book focus its attention in some of the following UN on-going debates on peace and human rights, which are fundamental for all those peacebuilding efforts aimed at reinforcing the interconnectivity between peace, sustainable development, and human rights, namely:

The universal and regional protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms as a requirement to promote peace worldwide; the promotion of democracy and rule of law as vital requirements for peace and development in the understanding that every State has the sovereign right to elect and freely determine its own political, social, economic and cultural system; the United Nations World Summit on the information society as useful platforms that collects, strengthens and spreads information in line of the UN principles; the safety of journalist and its right to freedom of expression, which should be exercised in accordance with certain conditions based in international law; the freedom of expression and countering hate speech on Internet to prevent youth radicalization; the challenges posed by migrants and refugees on the field of peace and security in the world; the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous people; the role played by education in countering violent extremism; the countering of violence and violent extremism through the United Nations system; the promotion of peace through the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance; the fight against terrorism; social justice as a basis of universal peace; the role played by women and youth as peace-builders and the prevention and punishment of genocide.

Article 35 of the 2004 Arab Charter of Human Rights declares the right of everyone to live in an intellectual and cultural environment in which human rights is sanctified and in which racial, religious and other forms of discrimination are rejected and international cooperation and the cause of world peace are supported. In this line, the book concludes recalling the invitation all stakeholders embodied in the recent 2016 Declaration on the Right to Peace to guide themselves in their activities by recognizing the great importance of practicing tolerance, dialogue, cooperation and solidarity among all peoples and nations of the world as a means to promote peace. 

To reach this end, the Charter of the United Nations states that present generations should ensure that both they and future generations learn to live together in peace with the highest aspiration of sparing future generations the scourge of war.