Dear Reaching Critical Will friends and advisors,
The holiday season is just about here. So, just before you turn off your computers to celebrate the New Year with your friends and family, Reaching Critical Will provides you with all of the information you need to wrap up 2003 and look forward to the incoming year. Remember that all news advisories from 2003 are archived on our site at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/action/Advisories.html. This will be the last advisory for the 2003 archive.
In this advisory:
I. The General Assembly votes on First Committee resolutions
II. Reaching Critical Will at the World Social Forum
III. NGO Committee on Disarmament (Geneva) hosts a panel discussion on the NPT
IV. NPT 2004: Preparations for the PrepCom are underway: How to get involved
1. NGOs and the NPT Review Process
2. NGO Presentations and Strategy
3. Calendar of Events
4. NGO Daily Reports: A Call for Submissions
5. NPT Background Information
Normally, we try to send out briefer, more frequent news advisories. But we figure we'll start your new year off with a good heap of information.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about any of the items featured below, never hesitate to contact us.
In peace,
Rhianna Tyson
Project Associate
I. The General Assembly votes on First Committee resolutions
Last week, the General Assembly took a vote on the draft resolutions adopted by the First Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security. A vote on draft resolution L.1, "The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects", submitted by Japan, Colombia and South Africa has been delayed. The draft resolution was passed by the First Committee with 162 votes in favor, no votes in abstention, and just one, solitary vote cast by the United States, in opposition. The delay is attributed to a delay in the work of the Fifth Committee, which must factor in the costs of a conference on tracing the illicit trade in SALW, as called for in the draft resolution.
To read more about draft resolution L.1 and others, see the Final Edition of the First Committee Monitor in HTML: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com03/FCM/finalreport.html or in PDF: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com03/FCM/finalreport.pdf.
Read the texts and voting results of all resolutions at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com03/res/resindex.htm.
If you want to receive the NGO reports in the First Committee Monitor next year, send an email to:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For more NGO analysis on the First Committee, see Rebecca Johnson's report at: http://www.acronym.org.uk/un/index.htm
II. Reaching Critical Will at the World Social Forum
WILPF's RCW project, in collaboration with Abolition 2000 and the World Peace Council, is organizing an anti-nuclear panel discussion to be held at the World Social Forum on January 16-21, in Mumbai, India. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness of international disarmament efforts among civil society groups across the globe, and to engage activists, academics, and community leaders in disarmament and nonproliferation fora and to promote a world free from the nuclear threat.
The event, which pulls together anti-nuclear activists from around the world, is structured in three segments. The first segment features nuclear experts from Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia, who will discuss nuclear policy and practice in their regions of the world, and relate it to the global framework on disarmament, peace and security. The second segment will look at what the anti-nuclear movement is doing on a global scale to combat these genocidal, ecocidal, and suicidal weapons. The last segment will discuss what peoples are doing on a local level to disarm their own communities, including citizens weapons inspections, youth-lead initiatives, street demonstrations and more.
To get involved in this event and others at the WSF, contact Rhianna Tyson or Al Marder.
To learn more about the World Social Forum, visit: www.wsfindia.org
For all other RCW-related inquiries during the month of January, contact the WILPF UNO Director, Susi Snyder, as Rhianna will be in South Asia, preparing for this event.
III. NGO Committee on Disarmament (Geneva) hosts a panel discussion on the NPT
The Geneva-based NGO Committee on Disarmament hosted a two-day panel discussion last week entitled, "Full-Spectrum Compliance Under the NPT." Well-attended by many in the diplomatic and NGO communities, the event looked at various ways of ensuring compliance, including an in-depth presentation by the IAEA's Tariq Rauf, an examination of the NPT-CD relationship, analysis of US nuclear policy, and a strategy session looking towards the 2004 PrepCom and the 2005 Review Conference.
Reaching Critical Will's Rhianna Tyson delivered a presentation entitled, "Addressing Compliance within the United Nations System: Present and future prospects." The following is an excerpt from that speech:
"If our question today is compliance, two aspects cannot be emphasized enough: that any discussion on compliance must give equal weight to all articles of the Treaty- the nonproliferation requirements AND the disarmament requirements. For vertical proliferators to accuse non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS) of non-compliance, and then use their questionable evidence and patchy national intelligence to declare the NPT a failure is illogical and unjust. We must- as disarmament experts and diplomats- utilize the United Nations and all of the tools at its disposal to work to discredit nuclear weapons as a primary source of security.
"The second aspect that must be stressed is the value of civil society in these efforts. Civil society can help build the internal pressure on governments necessary for them to act in good faith on their agreements "
To read the full-text of the presentation, see: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/genevaspch.html.
IV. NPT 2004: Preparations for the PrepCom are underway
It's that time again- time for disarmament NGOs to begin their preparations for the 2004 Preparatory Committee conference of States Parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, held in New York, April 26- May 7. Reaching Critical Will has just re-organized its NPT webpage to make it more navigable, and to make it easier for you and your organization to participate in this important conference.
Click here to learn more about the NPT and the Review Process.
1. NGOs and the NPT Review Process
NGOs have provided invaluable insight and expertise to the NPT conferences in the past, and our influence is growing. It is imperative that committed NGOs attend or have input into this critical PrepCom, out of which will emerge a consensus draft of recommendations for the 2005 Review Conference. NGOs are vital players that explain the issues, draw attention to some important problems, and put pressure on the States Parties to achieve a successful outcome.
In the upcoming weeks, the Secretariat of the conference- the WMD branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs- will issue an aide memoire to NGOs wishing to participate in the PrepCom. The aide memoire will include a registration form and other information needed for accreditation. The DDA has not yet begun accepting applications, but you must be aware of the necessity of the application procedure. Future RCW alerts will inform you of developments. If you are not subscribed now, please do so by sending an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Engage your representatives on NPT matters now! Write to your Minister of Foreign Affairs (or equivalent), CC it to your ambassadors in New York and Geneva, and encourage them to attend the conference to publicly urge the Nuclear Weapon States to uphold their Article VI promise! Consult our Governmental Database for their contact information.
2. NGO Presentations and Strategy
NGOs are designated one, three-hour session to deliver presentations to the delegates during the morning of April 28. These statements are collectively drafted and edited by the community of NGOs. If you want to participate in the drafting process, you must send an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For the month of January, we will be focusing on brainstorming topics and issues for discussion at the PrepCom. At the end of January, we will be deciding on the topics, and convenors for each of the topics will be chosen to draft the statements.
To read last year's NGO presentations at the PrepCom, see: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/NGOpres2003index.htm.
In addition, NGOs have created another listserve by which we are discussing a new strategy for the 2004 PrepCom and the upcoming Review Conference in 2005. What are we hoping for in 2005? What recommendations will we give to the States Parties in 2004? How can we ensure that their disarmament obligation will finally be realized? Join this important discussion by sending an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you have any trouble subscribing to these listserves, contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. RCW Project Associate.
This year, NGOs based in New York are organizing a massive street presence in the city the first week of the PrepCom, to demonstrate that the world is watching and we are holding our governments accountable to the NPT promise. Visit the site: www.1may04.org and see how you can get involved!
3. Calendar of Events
If you or your organization wishes to organize a panel, workshop, reception, or other meeting, be sure to book your time slot now! Consult the Calendar of Events at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/events.html and schedule your event by sending an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The calendar has been open for just two days, and already the slots are filling up quickly. Room number will be confirmed at a later date.
4. NGO Daily Reports: A Call for Submissions
Reaching Critical Will publishes a daily newsletter, The News In Review, throughout the entire two weeks of the PrepCom. The NIRs offer a range of NGO perspectives on the NPT, including daily reports of the conference proceedings, feature analyses of disarmament issues, interviews with diplomats and NGO representatives, anti-nuclear cartoons, daily calendars of events and other notices, and much more! See archived News in Reviews at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/nirindex.html.
Submit a feature article today! We are looking for articles no longer than 1,000 words, on any topic related to the international disarmament regime. We are also collecting cartoons, drawings, pictures, graphics, and other artistic expressions of the world's desire for nuclear disarmament. Please include your name, organization/affiliation, and contact information.
Send all submissions to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
5. NPT Background Information
Be sure to check out RCW's newly revamped NPT webpage, which features background information on the Treaty, the text of the NPT, information on PrepCom participation, NGO links, inter-governmental links, summaries of the 1995 and 2000 Review Conferences, texts of the Final Documents including the historical 13 Steps, talking points and more.
If you have any questions regarding the PrepCom, or if you would like to know more about how your organization can more effectively participate at the conference, never hesitate to contact us.
