Plan of action Final Report from the Second Meeting of Education Ministers Declaration by the education ministers of the Americas Declaration against violence Project proposals in education Follow up mechanisms

Declaration Against Violence As we stand before the threats of irrational violence, war and terrorism that have been imposed upon the future of humanity; we, the Ministers of Education of the Americas, hereby proclaim our decision to deepen and expand the bounds of educational processes. For by so doing, we shall strengthen the knowledge, values and attitudes that recognize and champion diversity, tolerance, mutual respect, non-violence, social justice and equality, as well as cooperation and solidarity among all peoples. To work for peace is to strengthen school systems so that children and youth can feel nurtured and protected, so that as they learn they can better understand the society to which they belong and the world around them. This implies developing the capacity to think, to exchange ideas, to comprehend, and to transform themselves and their environs through reasonable and active dialogue. It also implies reinforcing the study of history, the great knowledge of societies and their cultures, and understanding the dynamic forces of change that humanity has experienced through rooting individual identity in diversity. To work for peace is to work for human development and social progress. It is to contribute so that children, youth and adults alike can find deeper meaning in their lives, renew the hope for a better future and build the confidence required to make that vision a reality. It also means contributing to the formation of a responsible public opinion that is capable of expressing itself in ways more mature and profound than mere mass media. In response to this, as the Ministers of Education of the Americas, we commit ourselves to emphasize nonviolence and a culture of peace within the educational initiatives that form and reinforce our national and sub-regional values, and also promoting the construction of a Continental Program for Values in Education for 2003. Finally, we declare our emphatic repudiation of the attacks on the United States of America and express our solidarity with this country as well as its condemnation of all acts of violence that affect peaceful coexistence.