Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development: An Implementation Guide

There is no peace without education. With conflicts rising on so many fronts, there has never been a more urgent need for a transformed education geared towards building and sustaining peace.

The Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development, adopted by all 194 Member States of UNESCO in 2023, articulates a humanistic and transformative vision of education that can help address contemporary and future affronts to peace. These challenges range from the resurgence of conflicts driven by systemic inequalities and injustices, the rise and spread of hate speech, racism and discrimination particularly online, to the adverse effects of digital technologies and the existential threat of climate change.

UNESCO has developed this Guide as the first of several tools to assist Member States in unpacking and fully implementing the 2023 Recommendation. The Guide elaborates its contents, integrating the 2023 Recommendation’s transdisciplinary lens to connect key concepts and issues. It also provides concrete ideas and curated resources for action at different levels and types of education, while calling for a multi-stakeholder and whole-of-society approach that includes everyone and builds on existing positive efforts.

The Guide is a timely addition to the pool of available collective resources to fully implement the 2023 Recommendation and foster an education that is transformative for a just and peaceful world.