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 this page.

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 Accreditation and Registration
The Office for Disarmament Affairs has released the official Aide Memoire for NGO participation at the NPT PrepCom. Here is some very important information on accreditation and registration - the complete Aide Memoire can be accessed at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/prepcom08/Aide-Memoire.pdf.

NGOs wishing to attend the PrepCom must apply for accreditation to ODA. All NGOs, even those with UNOG badges, must apply.

Please submit, by 23 March, the following materials:

1) a letter on organizational letterhead, signed by the head of the organization, requesting attendance at the Conference, which includes the composition of the delegation and an overview of past interactions between your organization and the United Nations, particularly 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. Applicants for accreditation to UN conferences and individuals planning to attend side events must be at least 18 years of age.

2) A mission statement or summary of work that should include information on the organization's purpose, programmes, and activities related to the PrepCom. Not to exceed two pages in length.

Please send all of the above materials to:

Secretariat of the Preparatory Committee
c/o Ms. Silvia Mercogliano
Information and Outreach Branch
Office for Disarmament Affairs
Room S-3151E
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
USA

Tel: +1 917 367 4124
Fax: +1 917 367 5369
Email: UNODA.NPT.NGO@un.org

Requests for accreditation that are received by fax or email will be considered provisional until the signed letters are received by mail. You must send hardcopies to the above address.

NGOs that do not already possess UNOG grounds passes must also submit a completed registration form online - http://www.un.org/NPT2010/SecondSession/Regform.html. After you fill out and submit the online form, you will be given an option to print the form. Print this form, and bring it with you to the pass unit in Geneva. You do not need to submit the printed form with your accreditation materials above, but you must bring it with you to the pass unit.

NGO representatives with UNOG passes (grounds pass to the UN buildings in Geneva) do not need to fill out the registration form, but they must send in the accreditation materials listed above.

Once your accreditation materials have been received and reviewed by ODA, you will be notified on 28 March as to whether your documentation was received in order and whether the name of your organization will be included in the list of submission to states parties.

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. If you do not already have a UNOG grounds pass, you must also present your printed, filled out registration form to the pass unit.

The Pass and Identification Unit is open on working days from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

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 Sunday, 27 April, a welcome and orientation reception co-hosted by WILPF and the NGO Committee on Disarmament will be held at 1, rue de Varembé, ground floor, from 4 - 6 PM. All NGO representatives are invited!

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. It is tentatively expected that NGO presentations will be held during a plenary session on Tuesday, 29 April from 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM. 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 has already begun, 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.

Where to submit your materials
All NGO materials should be sent to the WILPF office in Genva.

If sending by your postal service, mail to:
Case Postale 28, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

If sending by DHL or other private shipping firms, mail to:
1, rue de Varembe, 1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland
The phone number, if needed, can be listed as +41.22.919.7080

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

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