High Level Panel on The Role of Parliaments for Building Peaceful and Inclusive Societies and Combatting Violent Extremism

UN Headquarters/ July 2016

The Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Global Ethics (IPCGE) serves to promote the alignment of national legislation with and implementation of the United Nations resolutions on the culture of peace, environmental ethics and social justice.

IPCGE in partnership with UNESCO and permanent missions to the United Nations, are convening a High Level Roundtable Panel with legislators - committed to incorporate the principles of the UN resolutions on the culture of peace and SDG goals for the protection of the environment and social justice in their national legislation.

The High Level Panel will be held in the context of the 10th anniversary of the Un Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adoption of the SG’s Plan of Action to Combat Violent Extremism and the High Level Political Forum. The context presents an opportunity to highlight the important contribution of the development of a culture of peace and the need for a partnership between parliamentarians and the UN to work jointly for preventing the unprecedented rise of violent extremism. A powerful means of addressing many of the drivers of violent extremism will be to align national development policies with the principles set out in the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically " promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (Goal 16). Education that will foster respect for human dignity and for culture of peace is a key element as well.

In this light, the IPCGE has been promoting national legislation for mandatory education on the culture of peace and strict measures to prevent incitement for terrorism and violent extremism in accordance with the relevant UN General Assembly resolutions. The role of legislators is crucial in this endeavor. So far the UN resolutions on the culture of peace have not yet been fully inscribed into national law in UN member states. This lacuna has left the door open to the various factors giving rise to violent extremism we are witnessing in areas of conflict as well as in states suffering from "home grown" terrorism.

The High level panel is intended to empower legislators of UN member states to initiate legislation in their respective parliaments to fill this lacuna in support of the UNESCO mandate on the culture of peace. The IPCGE initiative also envisages the further strengthening of a multi- track diplomacy partnership to engage religious, academic, and media leaders to fulfill their respective roles to implement the proposed legislation with the support of the United Nations institutions as envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Plan of Action to Prevent.