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If we talk about the culture of peace, we should first recall the very origin of its concept, which has linked UNESCO to Africa since its inception. It is indeed on this continent that this concept was first defined during the International Congress on “Peace in the Minds of Men”, organized by UNESCO in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, in 1989.

After a decade of field experiences in the 1990s, mainly through national culture of peace programs in Central America and Africa (El Salvador, Mozambique, Burundi, Kenya, South Africa, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Philippines, Bosnia, Haiti), the idea of a culture of peace has become an integral part of the United Nations agenda, especially with the “”, adopted by the General Assembly in 1999 and with the celebration of the year 2000 as the “”.&�Բ�����;

Strongly inspired by , the United Nations General Assembly defines the culture of peace as the set of “of values, attitudes and behaviours that reflect and inspire social interaction and sharing based on the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, all human rights, tolerance and solidarity, that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes...”

One of the major initiatives marking the celebration of the year 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace was the , elaborated by Nobel Peace Prize laureates and signed by nearly 76 million people worldwide, which will be the basis for the “Global Movement for a Culture of Peace”.

According to this Manifesto, the culture of peace is first a personal commitment to:

1. “respect the life and dignity of every person without discrimination or prejudice”;
2. “practise active non-violence, rejecting violence in all its forms: physical, sexual, psychological, economic and social, in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable such as children and adolescents”;
3. “share my time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression”;
4. “defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving preference always to dialogue and listening rather than fanaticism, defamation and the rejection of others”;
5. “promote consumer behaviour that is responsible and development practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet”;
6. “contribute to the development of my community, with the full participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together new forms of solidarity”.

This international year was followed by a United Nations “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World" between 2001 and 2010. It is from the following decade, in 2011, that 91�鶹������Ʒ���� developed a specific program for the African continent, particularly in the framework of its operational strategy for . Moreover, the first of the flagship programs of this strategy is dedicated to the promotion of a culture of peace in Africa.

The culture of peace is a concept that is “indigenous” to Africa. It is nourished by all the values, systems of thought, forms of spirituality, transmission of endogenous knowledge and technologies, traditions, and forms of cultural and artistic expression that have allowed for millennia the peaceful coexistence of very different populations and cultures and, when necessary, the resolution of conflicts and disputes through channels that are specific to the continent.

The call for the creation of a “Continental and Sustainable Movement for Peace” will appear in the “Plan of Action for a Culture of Peace in Africa/ Make Peace Happen”. This plan was adopted at the end of the Pan-African forum “”, organized jointly with the Government of Angola and the African Union, in Luanda in March 2013. The idea of creating a biennale for the culture of peace in Africa is in line with this Plan of Action. It is in this context that the 24th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted a decision in January 2015 requesting the Commission of the African Union “take all appropriate measures, in consultation with UNESCO and the Government of the Republic of Angola for the organization of the Forum Pan-African for the Culture of Peace in Africa, Luanda Biennial”.

It was finally in May 2018 that the Biennale for the Culture of Peace really took off during the official visit to UNESCO of the Angolan President, H.E. Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, who reaffirmed to the Director-General of UNESCO his willingness to host the first edition of the Biennale of Luanda, in partnership with UNESCO and the African Union. Thus, in 2019, from 18 to 22 September, the first Biennale of Luanda was launched.

And then the second edition of the Biennale, held two years later, between November 27 and 30, 2021, in a hybrid format. The Biennale of Luanda is much more than an event, and as the roadmap clearly shows, there are concrete steps to be taken in the follow-up of the Biennale, with opportunities for the development and realization of projects on the African continent.

This Biennale is thus a continuation of the three institutions that created it, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and all the organizations and individuals who participate in this global movement for the culture of peace. The adventure of the culture of peace continues for each of us in our daily lives, through our inner transformation and our commitment to the world around us. A big thank you to all those who have participated in the journey of these years... as they say in Angola: “A luta continua, vitória é certa [The struggle continues; the victory is certain]”!