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General E-News Advisories
2008
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Subscribe to the Reaching Critical Will General
E-News Advisories:
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Associate, subject line "subscribe e-news"
January 14
1) NPT PrepCom 2008
- Registration and Accreditation
- The role of NGOs at
the PrepCom
- NGO Side Events
- NGO Statements
- News in Review
- What to do if you
can't go to Geneva
- Links for more information
2) Conference on Disarmament
2008
3) WILPF on the Inside:
The Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament
4) Follow the news on
North Korea and Iran
5) Disarmament Calendar
for 2008
14 January
Dear Reaching Critical Will friends and advisors:
2008 has begun - providing another chance for the abolition
of nuclear weapons, general and complete disarmament, and the
triumph of social justice and human security. Or at least, some
progress on these fronts. Maintaining that, on the international
level, multilateral diplomacy is the best way forward in the
world we currently have, Reaching Critical Will will be actively
engaged in the processes of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
, the Conference on Disarmament, the UN Disarmament Commission,
and the Commission on the Status of Women in the coming months.
Information on how you and your organization can join us is
below.
In peace,
Ray Acheson, Project Associate
1) NPT PrepCom 2008
The next Preparatory Committee of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty 2010 review cycle will be held
28 April - 9 May 2008 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
All non-governmental organizations that work on nuclear disarmament
and non-proliferation are invited to attend.
A draft aide memoire prepared by the Office for Disarmament
Affairs (ODA) lists tentative information that we can use to
prepare for the PrepCom - an official version will be made available
on the RCW website and through the E-News as soon as it is released
by ODA. If your organization wishes to participate in the upcoming
PrepCom, be sure to subscribe to Reaching Critical Will's General
E-News service to receive all updates and information throughout
the upcoming weeks. Send an email requesting a subscription
to the General E-News service to the Project Associate at ray[at]reachingcriticalwill.org.
In addition, information will be posted regularly to the NPT
section of the Reaching Critical Will website, at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/2008index.html.
Dates
Please note that Thursday, 1 May 2008 is a holiday in
Geneva, so no PrepCom meetings will be held that day, and all
UNOG offices will be closed. The PrepCom will thus be 9 instead
of 10 days long.
NGO Accreditation and Registration
NGOs wishing to attend the PrepCom must apply for accreditation
to ODA. All NGOs, even those with UN badges, must apply.
Details on accreditation will be forthcoming within the next
few weeks, but for now you should be prepared to submit, by
25 March:
1) a letter on organizational letterhead requesting attendance
at the Conference, which includes the composition of the delegation,
the names of all representatives, and an overview of past interactions
between your organization and the United Nations in relation
to disarmament and nonproliferation. Such interactions may include
affiliation with the Department of Public Information (DPI),
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC),
etc. NGOs that will be participating for the first time should
indicate this in their request for accreditation.
Note: Names submitted for the delegation will not eligible
for later revision. It is advised that organizations submit
the composition of their delegations only after careful review.
2) A mission statement or summary of work that should include
information on the organization's purpose, programmes, and activities
related to the PrepCom.
3) A registration form (to be made available later).
Once these materials have been received by the ODA, you will
be notified of your acceptance mid-April. Once accredited, you
must register with the ODA when you arrive in Geneva, by going
to the Pass and Identification Unit located at the Pregny Gate
(near the International Red Cross building) at the UN Office
in Geneva (Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10). All NGO representatives
must present valid photo ID such as a passport or driver's license
at the counter.
Tentative schedule:
Registration will take place on the first day of the PrepCom,
on Monday, 28 April, from 8:00am - 12:00pm, and from 3:00pm
- 5:00pm. On 29 April - 2 May, registration will take place
from 9:00am - 12:00pm, and from 3:00pm - 5:00pm.
When the aide memoire is available (further outlining the accreditation
process), it will be posted on our site and announced through
this E-News subscription list.
The role of NGOs at the PrepCom
In recent years, NGOs have provided invaluable insight and expertise
to the conference, and their influence is growing. In order
to continue and build on this influence, committed NGOs should
attend the PrepCom, to insist states parties make use of their
time and devote their energy to progress. NGOs are needed to
provide credible analysis, views, and perspectives on the global
nuclear regime, support progressive measures towards disarmament
and non-proliferation, and bring media and public attention
to these important issues.
At this meeting, NGOs will be:
- urging the governments to renew their commitment to the
NPT in a fair and balanced manner;
- offering review and analysis of the nuclear weapon states'
progress on the 13 point action plan for disarmament;
- fostering a reassessment of the role and level of participation
of NGOs in international fora;
- recommending ways of strengthening other disarmament machinery,
including the Conference on Disarmament, the Disarmament Commission,
and First Committee;
- engaging diplomats in discussions on the newest ideas and
issues in disarmament at side-events and lunch time panels;
- holding press conferences and conducting media outreach
to draw attention to the PrepCom and the issues;
and more.
NGO Side Events
NGOs will reserve one conference room for their use throughout
the Preparatory Committee. If your organization wishes to organize
an event, we encourage you to book your time slot as soon as
possible - many organizations have already booked the room.
Check the Calendar
of Events on the Reaching Critical Will website to make
sure the time you want is available, then send an email to the
Project Associate
with the title of your event, the time and date, and contact
information. All events will be posted on the Calendar
of Events as well as in the daily News in Review.
On Monday, 28 April, after the first day of the PrepCom,
WILPF
would like to invite everyone to attend its 93rd Anniversary
Celebration! 93 years of women organizing to create alternatives
to war, militarism, imperialism, racism, and chauvinism (in
the early years without email, airplanes, or faxes) is certainly
something to celebrate. The reception will be held in the foyer
where WILPF has its offices at 1, rue de Varembé, from
18h00 to 20h00.
NGO Statements
Reaching Critical Will continues to serve as facilitator for
NGO statements to the PrepCom. NGOs are allotted one, three-hour
session to present their ideas and recommendations to states
parties. These presentations are drafted in a collective, consensus-based
manner, and will also be distributed to all governments and
archived on the RCW website. (You can read the statements from
the 2007 PrepCom at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/prepcom07/NGOpres.html.)
If you are an NGO wishing to participate in this drafting and
editing process - and we urge you to do so, whether or not you
plan to go to Geneva - we invite you to join the NPT Presentations
yahoo group by sending an email to npt_presentations-subscribe@yahoogroups.com,
or by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/npt_presentations/.
Once you have subscribed, you will receive further instructions
on participating.
This process will begin immediately, so subscribe today!
News in Review
The News in Review is a daily publication produced during
NPT Preparatory Committee and Review Conferences. It features
analysis of the day's events, feature articles from NGOs around
the world, interviews with diplomats and NGO representatives,
nuclear facts, announcements, cartoons, a calendar of events,
and more. You can access archived NIRs online at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/nirindex.html.
We encourage you to submit to this year's News in Review.
The guidelines are as follows:
Feature articles: In addition to the daily analysis
of the proceedings of the PrepCom, the News in Review
also contains feature articles that cover a range of nuclear
disarmament issues. We welcome submissions from NGO experts
around the world, regardless of whether or not you will be in
Geneva. Articles should be between 500-1000 words. The deadline
for feature submissions is 18 April. Please submit in .doc format
and the body of the email. Articles will be attributed to the
author and may be edited for length.
Advertising space: You can use the News in Review
to publicize an important announcement, event, or project hosted
by your organization. NIRs are hand-distributed to all
of the delegates at the PrepCom, sent by email to more than
2000 subscribers, and are archived on our website.
1/4 page ad: $35
1/2 page ad: $55
full page ad: $125
back page ad: $180
(Run your ad twice and get $10 off. Run your add three times
and get $20 off. Run your ad four times and get $30 off.)
Cartoons, photos, artwork, poetry: The News in Review
wouldn't be complete without its fill of poignant, satirical,
and beautiful artwork. We are accepting all forms of anti-nuclear
artwork, to be sent in either a .jpg, .gif, or .pdf file. Photos,
paintings, doodles, cartoons, collage, mixed media, and drawings
are all welcome.
Submit your ad, article, or artwork by sending:
- your organization's name;
- contact person;
- email address;
- phone number;
- type of submission (for ads, please specify the size of
the ad, dates for it to run, and payment method); and
- the submission
to the Project
Associate. The deadline for all submissions is 18 April.
What to do if you can't go to Geneva
There are plenty of opportunities for active involvement with
the PrepCom even if you can't make it to Geneva:
- See where your government stands on the issues by reading
their statements from the 2007 PrepCom here: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/prepcom07/statements.html
- Subscribe to RCW's CD Report list, and receive weekly updates
on what your government is saying in Geneva (email the Project
Associate with the subject line "subscribe cdreport").
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/cdindex.html
- Subscribe to the News in Review, the daily non-governmental
NPT publication, and receive daily updates on what is happening
at the PrepCom (email the Project
Associate with the subject line "subscribe nir").
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/nirindex.html
- Make an appointment with your Foreign Ministry or equivalent.
Urge your Foreign Minister to attend the conference, reminding
them that they represent YOU. Call your representatives in
New York and Geneva, to let them know that you are paying
attention, and that you are demanding nuclear disarmament.
Use our Governmental Contact Database for their information:
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/govcontacts/govindex.html
- Call your local media! Publicize your views and your government's
policies, and let them know what's happening in Geneva.
- Once the PrepCom is in session, you can read what your government
did or did not say by checking RCW's NPT page every day. We
post all statements, working papers, non-papers, reports,
NGO statements, and official documents on our website in near
real-time: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/2008index.html
Links for more information
The Reaching Critical Will website hosts a wealth of information
on the NPT - both background information as well as NGO analyses.
These can be found here: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/nptindex1.html
2) Conference on Disarmament
2008
The first session of the Conference
on Disarmament (CD) will begin 21 January 2008. Subscribe
to RCW's CD Report to keep informed, by emailing ray[at]reachingcriticalwill.org
with the subject line "subscribe cdreport". Also check
in with the RCW CD webpage, at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/cdindex.html,
where all CD Reports, press releases, statements, and papers
will be posted.
An updated version of Reaching Critical Will's Guide to the
Conference on Disarmament is now available online at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/cdbook2008.pdf.
Designed for activists and educators to use when learning or
teaching about the CD, our guide is an easy information reference.
It includes general information about the CD, a brief chronological
history, an overview of the agenda and CD groupings, a summary
of the critical issues, and information on what NGOs to help
activate the CD. Please use and distribute widely through your
networks.
3) WILPF on the Inside:
The Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament
Dr. Kate Dewes, a WILPF member in New Zealand for thirty years
and Coordinator of the Peace Foundation Disarmament
& Security Centre in Christchurch has been appointed
by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to his Advisory
Board on Disarmament Matters. The Board, currently comprised
of 19 Ambassadors and officials from around the world, meets
twice a year to advise the Secretary-General on matters within
the area of arms limitation and disarmament; to serve as the
Board of Trustees of the United
Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), based
in Geneva; and to advise the Secretary-General on the implementation
of the UN Disarmament Information Programme.
As reported in Scoop
Independent News, Dr. Dewes has said she is deeply honoured
by this appointment. "It reflects the high profile New
Zealand citizen groups, government officials and parliamentarians
have in the field of peace and disarmament", she says.
"For example, while I am in New York for the first Board
meeting, the NZ Government will be hosting a major international
conference in Wellington as the next step in negotiations to
ban cluster munitions." She will be able to draw upon her
experience over more than 30 years of campaigning for peace
and disarmament, including her role in the World
Court Project 1987-96, a Christchurch-initiated citizen
campaign which resulted in a ruling from the International
Court of Justice that the threat or use of nuclear weapons
would be generally illegal. "My hope is that I will also
be able to support the NZ Government's efforts to revive progress
in the struggle for a nuclear weapon-free world, following their
recent success in sponsoring a UN resolution calling for the
de-alerting of all nuclear weapons."
WILPF and the Reaching Critical Will project congratulate Dr.
Dewes and look forward to her continued work for a disarmed
world.
4) Follow the news on
North Korea and Iran
Keep up to date with events surrounding North Korea's dismantlement
of its nuclear weapons complex and the situation surrounding
Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programme with RCW's regularly-updated
resources - and take action to insist on non-discriminatory,
multilateral, diplomatic approaches to both situations in 2008.
Iran: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/iran.html
North Korea: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/northkorea.html
5) Disarmament Calendar
for 2008
RCW has created a 2008 Disarmament Calendar, which keeps track
of significant events related to disarmament, including meetings
of international multilateral fora and intergovernmental organizations,
as well as grassroots actions and civil society conferences.
Check it out at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/disarmcal08.html
- and please submit any events you would like advertised to
ray[at]reachingcriticalwill.org.
Additionally, the Geneva Forum, a joint initiative of the Quaker
United Nations Office, Geneva (QUNO), the United Nations Institute
for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and the Programme for Strategic
and International Security Studies (PSIS) of the Graduate Institute
of International Studies, hosts a calendar available here: http://www.geneva-forum.org/Calendar/Current.htm
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