Main Themes at the NGO Summit

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Short overview of main themes which arose

Summit summary: The Summit began with a reception featuring remarks by UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, who provided a tour d'horizon of disarmament and emphasized the need for NGO support in specific areas, and "Disarming Humor" from Bill Hartung of the World Policy Institute. On the first day the summit addressed political context, NGO realities — including past practice and funding challenges, the current debate and possible entry or leverage points, and governmental perspectives on NGO contributions and potential. The second day began with disarmament education, including a recent UN study and participatory simulations. Then participants heard remarks from experienced activists and joined in small group discussions focused on strategic thinking and future planning.

NGO Strategy Summit- Moving from "What" to "How": Insights and Themes

The Reaching Critical Will NGO Strategy Summit held from October 18-20, 2002 made one point glaringly clear: NGOs have the energy and motivation to work on the issue of disarmament. The NGO movement must, at this pivotal moment in the history of arms control and disarmament, reassess current approaches to strategy and advocacy.

How NGOs approach these challenges will depend on how this movement addresses the need to focus its efforts on outcomes of greater policy relevance and impact, in our context - "results-based disarmament." This strategy summit was the beginning of a process intended to shift gears from the "what" of disarmament substantive issues to "how" NGOs in different environments, fora, and capacities working on disarmament can strategize together and coordinate efforts in an effective and qualitative manner.

Various themes emerged from the weekend, which can help build the momentum for a forward-looking process to assess NGO strategies in the field of disarmament and arms control:

(1) NGO Roles:

Long-term planning: In discussing the role of NGOs in the field of disarmament, the importance of developing long-term strategies, rather than focusing mainly on short-term tactics, was stressed. Whether through research, policy development, advocacy and/or implementation, these short-term tactics would be part of a larger sustainable plan, which should be practical and realistic in approach.

Building a social movement: This long-term strategy needs to be framed in the context of building a social movement that will facilitate a paradigm shift in thinking about disarmament. Elements of this include changing the terms of the debate, and emphasizing the nature of the movement as promoting democracy and transparency.

Public awareness: The need to foster understanding of the issues among the general public, by way of encouraging sustained interest and building a constituency in favor of nonproliferation and disarmament. Public should be approached who are not necessarily part of the "converted", and those who are converted should be energized.

Disarmament education as a tool for public awareness: Disarmament education should be used to foster understanding within the general public and NGOs and as a tool for informal training of parliamentarians and military. This information must be contextualized at different levels and for different audiences, with a focus on the importance of critical thinking.

(2) NGO-Governmental Relationships:

Constructive analysis: There is a need to build more strategic partnerships between NGOs and governments. In doing so, quality is more important than quantity - NGOs need to accompany criticism of existing policies with constructive analysis of the issues, including recommendations for practical policy options. This engagement must be done at an early stage, so as to influence debates at the policy level before the public international meetings take place, at which point national policies are generally already set.

One representative of a New Agenda state gave the example of a recent RCW First Committee report that had a direct impact on the New Agenda draft resolution this year. The report drew on comments among observers and other states to point out possible problems of interpretation in one of the operative paragraphs and pointed in a direction that was useful for clarifying this language.

(3) Networking among NGOs- coalition building vs. divergence in views:

Networks and coalitions: It is necessary to broaden outreach and coalitions, across different categories, for example with those working on issues of human rights, international law, the environment, globalization, and terrorism-related issues. Strategic partnerships are critical among NGOs. It is important to find unity in certain messages so as to make the most effective impact on policy-makers. In addition, creation of networks and information channels among NGOs working in the disarmament field are crucial to learning from one another.

(4) Challenges NGOs Face:

Political context: The current political climate include erosion of multilateral international legal regimes in security and disarmament and the rejection of disarmament as a possibility or a goal in influential circles. NGOs must explore new partnerships, redefine goals, and think beyond the immediate future to help shape new possibilities.

Funding crisis: NGOs have been forced to down-size and explore ways to maximize impact. In response, NGOs must look to which issues they can be the most effective. NGOs must also begin to consider alternative means of funding.

Other challenges at a glance:

The need for more focus on gender perspectives on disarmament;

NGOs working within structures that are unfamiliar, unnatural, or ideologically different;

NGO access to governmental and intergovernmental meetings and documents is limited and even diminishing;

Limited staff within NGOs are trying to cope with many different issues and roles (e.g., both programs and fundraising) with fewer resources;

The peace movement in general has very limited, if any, access to mainstream media.