The 'Template for a City of  Peace' localizes the 'The Hague Agenda on City Diplomacy'_¹.  It defines what are the ingredients of a good local policy to support peace, human rights and justice. It also gives the criteria for the City Diplomacy Peace prize.

 

1. Work for peace in your own community

 

Peace starts at home. Therefore, a City of Peace makes an active effort to integrate peace, human rights and justice in all its policies.

 

1.a. Promote social cohesion

A City of Peace promotes social cohesion by alleviating tensions in the community in an early stage. It can do this by starting a dialogue and inviting marginalized groups in the decision-making process. It can set up community relations councils in neighbourhoods. It can bring antagonistic groups closer to each other by creating areas in public space (e.g. market place, playgrounds) where they are likely to meet, or create economic opportunities which stimulate economic interdependency of these hostile groups.
After a violent conflict a City of Peace takes action to achieve reconciliation and refrains from actions which damage reconciliation: it takes into account the feelings of all sides of the conflict when it decides about the construction of remembrance memorials and repair of (religious) monuments with high emotional value.
When there are international refugees from a region where tensions flare up, a City of Peace will start a dialogue with these groups to investigate how this effects these groups and whether it is possible to cooperate for peace.

 

1.b. Create a culture of peace

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the period 2001-2010 as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. A City of Peace helps to create such a culture of peace in many different ways. It can organise exhibitions and peace weeks, it can promote peace education and it can support local peace groups.
It can start a dialogue with migrant groups and refugees in the community who come from conflict areas and with soldiers who have returned from UN Peace keeping missions and veterans.
While it is essential to cooperate with civil society in putting a culture of peace in place, local governments must take the lead. A City of Peace participates in the annual International Day of Peace ( 21 September).

 

1.c. Peace and development

An important element in working for peace is working for development. A City of Peace embraces the fight against poverty as it is formulated in the Millennium Development Goals. However, the correlation between peace and development is not one dimensional. As a society develops some groups profit more than others, power balances shift, and expectations rise. This causes strains in the social fabric. A City of Peace is sensitive for these developments and will act to counter adverse effects. When it comes to planning and executing concrete development projects a City of Peace checks to see that the spoils do  not fall into the hands of one of the parties in a conflict or leave one party out, creating bitterness². A City of Peace also reacts quickly on negative developments (e.g. quickly repair consequences of destructive acts such as hateful graffiti)and gives specific attention to re-integrate ex-combatants in society.

 

1.d. Take into account gender differences

In 2000 the UN Security council adopted resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. A City of Peace will recognise and act upon the analysis in this resolution: ''the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, … the under-valued and under-utilized contributions women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building, and … the importance of their equal and full participation as active agents in peace and security³." 

2. Work for peace internationally

 

Peace goes across borders. Therefore a City of Peace will help to promote peace, human rights and justice in cities across the world.

 

2.a. Set up international cooperation projects with other local governments

A stronger local government makes better policies and provides more services to the citizens. It is also more equipped to prevent conflicts and to manage reconstruction after violent conflict. The peace policy of a City of Peace therefore includes capacity building projects to strengthen partner local governments.

 

2.b. Stimulate the international cooperation of your community

In a City of Peace the international initiatives at local government level go hand-in-hand with community initiatives. Local groups, schools, local chapters of (inter)national organisations, socially responsible businesses, migrants etc. support counterparts which contribute to peace and development. In a City of Peace local government supports these groups by facilitating their work and by lending legitimacy and publicity to their work. Also a City of Peace will make use of the contacts and the expertise of these groups.

 

2.c. Lobby and express solidarity

A City of Peace helps to strengthen the position of parties in favour of peace and gives a voice to those who are threatened. In this way publicity can be generated about conflicts which are neglected by the mass-media. This may cause the international community to take an interest and for those affected it can give moral support. The instruments are the fame of the city and the eminence and the contacts of the local government politicians. The actions include speaking out in public, using high-level personal contacts, participating in solidarity missions, joining the initiatives of  UCLG's City Diplomacy Commission, joining national and international peace campaigns (e.g. 2020 Vision Campaign) and to become member of international organisations like the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and Mayors for Peace.

3. Give peace-building a structural base in your local authority

 

Peace is a lasting effort. Therefore a City of Peace takes care to turn incidental peace initiatives into a flesh and bone peace policy.

 

3.a. Create structures

A City of Peace creates adequate political and administrative structures for its peace policy. Responsibilities at the political level are defined, staff time is allocated and a budget is approved. A broad political consensus is sought so as to create continuity in the peace policy.

 

3.b. Communicate actively

A City of Peace backs up its peace policy by a good communications policy. This is not only important to make the public aware of peace issues, but it is also an instrument in itself when it comes to expressing solidarity and lobbying.

 

3.c. Work with the community

A City of Peace creates structures for community groups, NGOs, schools, socially responsible private enterprise etc. which engage in peace building, human rights and justice, be it at home or internationally. This may include providing subsidies, support from staff from the town hall, and making available premises for meetings and the like.

 

^{[1] This Agenda was adopted at the 'First World Conference on City Diplomacy. The role of local governments in conflict prevention, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction' (The Hague, 11-13 June 2008)}

^{[2] See: Peace Conflict Impact Analysis (PCIA), http://cpr.web.cern.ch/cpr/library/Tools/PCIA_HandbookEn_v2.2.pdf}

^{[3] See: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/UN1325}