Since 1959 the United Nations has designated specific years to emphasize issues which are part of the mission of the organization.
[1] The General Assembly invited a Declaration and Programme of Action from UNESCO and adopted it after ten months of difficult negotiation.
Members of the Taskforce included: David Adams (Chair), Enzo Fazzino, [3] Katherine Stoessel,[4] Di Bretherton,[4] Zeynep Varoglu[4] and Jan Visser.
The specific initiatives included the collection of some 75 million signatures worldwide in support of a culture of peace, with the Manifesto 2000 Project.
An extensive description of the results obtained during the International Year was published by UNESCO.