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DPI/NGO Relations invites you to a
Briefing
For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!
“Preparing for Mexico: New Perspectives on Human Development
and Disarmament”
on
4 June 2009
10:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
in
Conference Room 2
Background Information:
Each year, nations put more and more time and resources
towards fighting wars and acquiring weapons. The consequences of
these actions are far reaching and affect every sphere of life,
be it political, economic, or social. Ever since its establishment,
the United Nations has sought to eliminate the grave dangers that
the threat of nuclear war and the use of nuclear weapons pose to
the global community by making a call for international disarmament.
Although nuclear weapons have only been used twice in warfare—in
the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945—about 26,000
reportedly remain in our world today, and there have been over 2,000
nuclear tests conducted to date. Disarmament remains the best protection
against such dangers, but achieving this goal has been difficult
and elusive. Today, the lack of progress toward disarmament is a
major threat to human development on several fronts. In addition
to the threat of nuclear weapons, there is a new danger posed by
the large number of small arms circulating globally that are used
in violent crimes within communities, to promote drug wars and to
escalate conflict situations around the world. Large sums of money
are also spent by states that can least afford it on huge national
military and defence budgets. The UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is just one of the multilateral treaties
aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation and testing while promoting
progress in nuclear disarmament. There are also a number of other
treaties and arrangements between countries and groups of countries
that seek to reduce or eliminate certain categories of nuclear weapons
and prevent their proliferation. Despite this, some states still
feel the need to acquire and test their capacity to manufacture
nuclear weapons. The question therefore remains: how do we persuade
governments and individuals that ridding the world of this destructive
class of weapons is in their best interest? Nuclear weapons are
not the only class of armaments that need to be eliminated. Conventional
weapons, which are used not only for armed conflict, war and terrorism,
but also for organized crime and gang warfare, need to be managed
and destroyed. The excessive accumulation and increased availability
of small arms further aggravates conflicts around the world, leading
to greater instability of states already in crisis and exacerbated
international tensions. Additionally, excessive military spending
that diverts economic resources away from struggling communities
and proactive national initiatives is a great obstacle to human
development. The requested budget of the U.S. Department of Defence
for 2010 alone is $533.8 billion, up 4% from 2009. As the world
experiences the greatest international economic crisis since the
1930’s, civilians and children are bearing the burden of conflict
and spending more than ever before. This week’s briefing will
look at some of the challenges to international disarmament and
human development, the theme of this year’s 62nd Annual DPI/NGO
Conference to be held in Mexico City from 9-11 September. We hope
our exploration of the topic will wet your appetite for the Mexico
Conference and inspire you to do your part to disarm now in the
interest of peace and development.
Moderator:
Maria-Luisa Chavez, Chief, NGO Relations, Department
of Public Information
Speakers:
Representative from the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United
Nations (TBC)
Daniel Prins, Chief, Conventional Arms Branch,
UN Office of Disarmament Affairs
Frida Berrigan, Senior Program Associate, Arms
and Security Initiative, New America Foundation
Ray Acheson, Project Director, Reaching Critical
Will, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, UN Office
Rhianna Tyson, Senior Officer, Global Security
Institute
Briefing by, Charles Hitchcock and Maria-Luisa
Chavez, Co-Chairs of the 62nd Annual DPI NGO Conference
“For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!”
The panel discussion will be followed by a Question and
Answer period.
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