The Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes was approved by Resolution 37/10 by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 November 1982, on the basis of a text prepared by the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization at its 1980 session.
The Manila Declaration was elaborated on the initiative of non-aligned countries (Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippine s, Romania, Sierra Leone , and Tunisia). This initiative might explain why the initial draft contained so many references to “equal rights and self-determination of peoples”, the “need for all States to desist from any forcible action which deprives peoples, particularly under colonial and racist regimes or other forms of alien domination, of their inalienable right to self- determination, freedom and independence” and the “right of these peoples to struggle to that end and to seek and receive support.”
The Manila Declaration was negotiated and adopted amidst the difficult relations be tween the East and West, and considering the intent of the non-aligned countries to seek clarification of existing international law in conjunction with their aspirations. It was the first normative text that developed a comprehensive plan and a consolidation of the legal framework of peaceful settlement of international disputes.
The Declaration builds upon and promotes general international law, the Charter of the United Nations, in particular Article 33, and other international instruments such as the Declaration on Principle s of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (General Assembly re solution 2625 (XXV), 24 October 1970 ), the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (Pact of Bogotà, 30 April 1948), the Europe an Convention on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes (Strasbourg, 29 April 19 5 7), the 1928 General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (Geneva, 26 September 1928 , revised by the United Nations GeneralAssembly in 1949 ).