Promoting a Culture of Peace and Tolerance to Safeguard Religious Sites

A/RES/75/258View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 15Culture of peace, published in 2020.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Conferences Cultural Property Protection Destruction of Property Peace Religious Intolerance Religious Places Tolerance

What does this mandate say?

13 operative paragraphs

Calls for strengthened international efforts to foster a global dialogue on the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels, based on respect for human rights and for the diversity of religions and beliefs, and strongly deplores all acts of violence against persons on the basis of their religion or belief and such acts directed against their places of worship, as well as all attacks on and in religious places, sites and shrines that are in violation of international law;

Condemns all acts or threats of violence, destruction, damage or endangerment, directed against religious sites as such, that continue to occur in the world, and denounces any moves to obliterate or forcibly convert any religious sites;

Invites all Member States, the United Nations system, regional and non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders to support, as appropriate, the United Nations Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites and to increase their understanding of the Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes, also called the Fez Plan of Action, and the Plan of Action on Hate Speech, and other initiatives promoting tolerance and mutual understanding;

Invites the United Nations Secretary-General to convene a global conference involving United Nations entities, Member States, political figures, religious leaders, faith-based organizations, media, civil society and other relevant stakeholders that aims to contribute to spearheading political support for specific actions to take the United Nations Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites forward;

Expresses its concern that incidents of racial and religious intolerance, discrimination and related violence, as well as of negative racial and religious stereotyping, continue to rise around the world, and condemns, in this context, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, and urges States to take effective measures, consistent with their obligations under international human rights law, to address and combat such incidents;

Reaffirms the positive role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can play in strengthening democracy and combating religious intolerance, and reaffirms further that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities, in accordance with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Emphasizes that freedom of religion or belief, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing, and stresses the role that these rights can play in the fight against all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief;

Expresses deep concern at the continued serious instances of derogatory stereotyping, negative profiling and stigmatization of persons based on their religion or belief, as well as programmes and agendas pursued by extremist individuals, organizations and groups aimed at creating and perpetuating negative stereotypes about religious groups, in particular when condoned by Governments;

Reaffirms the essential need to strengthen international, regional and subregional cooperation aimed at enhancing the national capacity of Member States to prevent and effectively suppress attacks on places of worship;

Deplores damage to the cultural heritage of countries in situations of crisis, conflict and post-conflict, in particular recent attacks on world cultural heritage sites, calls for an immediate end to such acts, and reminds States parties to the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and to the two Protocols thereto of the provisions contained therein to safeguard and respect cultural property and to prohibit, prevent and, if necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropriation of and any acts of vandalism directed against cultural property;

Calls for the United Nations to continue to develop strategies, educational initiatives and global communications campaigns and tools aimed at strengthening the protection of religious sites and cultural heritage, fostering mutual respect and understanding, enhancing media awareness and countering religious intolerance and hate speech;

Invites all Member States to enhance education and capacity-building to counter incitement to violence through fostering the messages of unity, solidarity and interreligious and intercultural dialogue, raising awareness and mutual respect towards promoting the culture of peace, non-violence and non-discrimination, and promoting understanding among people of all cultures, religions and beliefs, as well as the importance of peaceful coexistence;

Requests the United Nations Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders, and decides to continue consideration of the question of promoting a culture of peace and tolerance to safeguard religious sites under the item entitled “Culture of peace”.

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