Freedom to Live.

"Once synonynwus with the defence of territory from external attack, the requirements of security today have come to include protecting communities and individuals from internal violence. ... The need for a need for a more human-centred approach to security is reinforced by the continued dangers that weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, pose to humanity: their very name reveals their scope -- and the intended objective of ever using them."

THE WORLD IS now in the fifty-fifth year without war among the major powers--the longest such period in the entire history of the modern system of States. Economic globalization has largely eliminated the benefits of territorial acquisition, while the destructiveness of modern warfare has increased its costs.

NUCLEAR WEAPON NUMBERS have almost halved since 1982 and world military expenditures have declined by some 30% between 1990 and 1998.

BUT THERE ARE NO NEGOTIATIONS at all covering the many thousands of "tactical nuclear weapons" or weapons of any nuclear power other than Russia and the United States; some 35,000 nuclear weapons remain in the arsenals of nuclear powers, with thousands still deployed on hair-trigger alert.

NEGOTIATIONS ON A VERIFICATION regime for the Biological Weapons Convention are being unnecessarily prolonged, while for three years the United Nations Conference on Disarmament has not engaged in any negotiations because its members have disagreed on priorities.

THE NEAR DOUBLING in the number of democracies since 1990 has been equally important; established democratic States rarely fight each other militarily.

THE 1990s SAW an upsurge in UN peacekeeping and peacemaking activities: three times more peace agreements were signed in that decade than the previous three combined.

WARS AT THE TURN of the century have been mainly internal, claiming more than 5 million lives. They have violated not so much borders but people, often sustained by external economic interests, and fed by a hyperactive and in large part illicit global arms market.

IN PARTS OF AFRICA in the mid-1990s, deadly assault rifles could be bought for the price of a chicken or a bag of maize; as many as 500 million could be in circulation.

STATES ARE SOMETIMES the principal perpetrators of violence against the very citizens that humanitarian law requires them to protect; non-State combatants, particularly in collapsed States, often are either ignorant or contemptuous of humanitarian law.

HUMANITARIAN CONVENTIONS have been routinely flouted, civilians and aid workers have become strategic targets, and children have been forced to become killers.

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS DO NOT adequately address the needs of vulnerable groups, such as internally displaced persons, women and children in complex emergencies.

What We The Peoples Can Do

Strengthen respect for law, in international as in national affairs, in particular the agreed provisions of treaties on the control of armaments, and international humanitarian and human rights law, the signing and ratification by all Governments that have not done so of the various conventions, covenants and treaties which form the central corpus of international law.

Make the United Nations more effective in its work of maintaining peace and security, notably by strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to conduct peace operations and adopting measures to make economic sanctions adopted by the Security Council less harsh on innocent populations and more effective in penalizing delinquent rulers.

Fix the structural weaknesses of United Nations peace operations, which at present relies almost entirely on last minute, ad-hoc arrangements that guarantee delay, with respect to the provision of civilian personnel even more so than military.

Act energetically to curb the illegal traffic in small arms, taking advantage of the 2001 United Nations conference on the subject, and creating greater transparency in arms transfers and supporting regional disarmament measures, such as the moratorium on import, export or manufacture of light weapons in West Africa and those that have worked well in Albania, El Salvador, Mozambique and Panama,

Give consideration to convening a major international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers.

Devising New Strategies

Conflicts can be abetted by opportunistic neighbours and private sector actors. The best preventive strategy is transparency: "naming and shaming". Civil society actors have a role in this regard, but Governments and the Security Council must exercise their reponsibility. So should global companies, including banks. The culture of impunity must end, which is why the creation of the International Criminal Court is so important. Other strategies could include mechanisms to monitor compliance by all parties with existing provisions of international humanitarian law, stronger legal standards to provide for the protection of humanitarian workers, and an international convention regulating the actions of private and corporate security firms which we see are involved in internal wars in growing numbers.

Traditional peacekeeping focused mainly on monitoring ceasefires; today's complex peace operations are very different. The United Nations helps to create and strengthen political institutions and to broaden their base, working alongside governments, NGOs and local citizens' groups to provide emergency relief demobilize and reintegrate former fighters, clear mines, organize and conduct elections, and promote sustainable development practices. International assistance to rebuild the economy is an essential complement to this work. People will quickly become disillusioned with fledgling institutions, and even the peace process itself, if they see no prospect for any material improvement in their conditions. Post-conflict peace building has helped to prevent the breakdown of numerous peace agreements, and to build foundation for sustainable peace. The Secretary-General has established a high-level panel to review peace operations in all their aspects. from the doctrinal to the logistical, and suggest ways forwar d that are acceptable politically and make sense operationally.