Peace Stories
April 2003
Banner photo: Nara, Japan [©SEKAI BUNKA PHOTO]
Education for Sustainable Development
On December 20, 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing a "United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" to begin in 2005, with UNESCO appointed as the lead agency. The proposed Decade was originally put forward by Soka Gakkai representatives in Japan to an NGO forum and taken up by the Japanese government, before being accepted as a part of the official implementation plan adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 2002.
The UN resolution emphasizes that education is an indispensable element for sustainable development and acknowledges the importance of civil society in assuring the success of the Decade.
In order to promote education activities for the Decade and use of the Earth Charter as a tool in education, the SGI joined the official partnership initiative "Educating for Sustainable Living with the Earth Charter" launched in Johannesburg, which brings together UNESCO, the governments of Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Niger and 18 major NGOs.
