demilitarization

Eighth Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms and Light Weapons

The Biennial Meetings of States have the mandate to consider the national, regional and global implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA) to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects and its International Tracing Instrument (ITI).

Description

In 2001, countries adopted the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). In it, governments agreed to improve national small arms regulations, to strengthen stockpile management, to ensure that weapons are properly and reliably marked, to improve cooperation in weapons tracing, and to engage in regional and international cooperation and assistance.

Stay apprised of updates and read all relevant documents, including the full agenda and information for NGO participants on the official event page here.

Watch events live from June 27 – July 1, 2022 here: http://media.un.org/en/asset/k1a/k1ape0jwz4

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngodisarm.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

Transforming Climate Finance to Radically Transform Societies: The Case of Green Climate Fund Funding

Join CIDSE on Nov. 4 for an expert panel discussion on “Transforming Climate Finance to Radically Transform Societies: the Case of Green Climate Fund Funding.”

In the context of COVID-19, climate ambition entails not only lowering greenhouse gas emissions, but also recovering effectively by addressing climate impacts, food security, poverty and inequality holistically. Climate change has a direct impact on communities, (small scale) food producers, and civil society organisations (CSOs) operating at the local level in many developing countries.

Because they are based on local realities, including the needs and knowledge of local actors, locally-driven, innovative climate-response measures are highly effective in promoting climate adaptation and resilience, ecosystem recovery, low-carbon emissions, and sustainable development.  The scaling up of climate finance will be a pressing issue at COP26, with the review of the second commitment period being particularly important.

The GCF has committed to becoming a paradigm-shifting and transformative fund for low-emission and climate-resilient development, dedicated solely to climate financing in developing countries, with a focus on both mitigation and adaptation. However, our studies have shown that barriers for CSOs to access GCF funds exist and are systemic, massive. Our studies also show that agroecology receives minimal support from the fund while it is now recognized to be key to food system transformation we dramatically need and to cope with the multiple crises we face. Addressing, reducing and overcoming these barriers as well as increasing the quality of funding for agriculture will be essential for the Fund to fulfill its mission of transformative change-making.

Learn more & register here.

For further relevant reading, see this CIDSE study: “Improving civil society’s limited access to the Green Climate Fund.”

With questions about the event, please contact Lydia Machaka, CIDSE Climate Justice Officer, at machaka(at)cidse.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. 

Uniting to Dismantle Racism and Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy

The major challenges facing Americans today – racial and gender injustice, economic inequality, pandemic disease, climate change – cannot be solved without international solidarity and human compassion.  Endless wars and endless Pentagon spending only exacerbate these problems, making people at home and abroad less safe.  Without addressing the racism and militarism at the core of U.S. foreign policy, progress toward a more sustainable, just, and peaceful world will not be possible.

Please join us for a webinar to explore how progressive groups working on a wide variety of domestic and foreign policy issues can join together to dismantle structures of militarism and white supremacy

Speakers include:

• Salih Booker, President and CEO, Center for International Policy
• Shailly Barnes, Policy Director, Kairos Center and Poor People’s Campaign
• Diana Duarte, Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement, MADRE
• Tobita Chow, Founding Director, Justice is Global
• Diana Ohlbaum, Senior Strategist and Legislative Director for Foreign Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation (moderator)

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcumrrT0vGtOXAq3fM6tBj7AerKMTqD1i

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

72nd Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner {for Refugees’s} Programme

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in line with the guidelines issued by the Swiss Federal Council, the cantonal authorities and the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the seventy-second session of the Executive Committee (ExCom) is expected to be a limited in-person event, with remote participation also available. The in-person event will take place in room XIX at the Palais des Nations.

Interested participants can learn more here: unhcr.org/2021-executive-committee-session.html

Remote participation will be facilitated through Interprefy. Please note that the Interprefy platform should only be used for speakers. Those observing the event remotely will be able to access the webcast on the session webpage as usual.

Program:

  1. Opening of the session, adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters.
  2. Statement by the High Commissioner.
  3.  General debate.
  4. Consideration of reports on the work of the Standing Committee:
    (a) International protection;
    (b) Programme budgets, management, financial control and administrative
    oversight.
  5. Consideration of reports relating to programme and administrative oversight and
    evaluation.
  6. Consideration and adoption of the programme budget for 2022.
  7. Review of the consultations with non-governmental organizations.
  8. Other statements.
  9. Meetings of the Standing Committee in 2022.
  10. Consideration of the provisional agenda of the seventy-third session of the Executive
    Committee.
  11. Election of officers.
  12. Any other business.
  13. Adoption of the report of the seventy-second session of the Executive Committee.
  14. Closing of the session.

View the full provisional agenda and annotations here: https://www.unhcr.org/60fade424

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org.

International Day Against Nuclear Tests

Since nuclear weapons testing began on 16 July 1945, over 2,000 have taken place. In the early days of nuclear testing little consideration was given to its devastating effects on human life, let alone the dangers of nuclear fallout from atmospheric tests. Hindsight and history have shown us the terrifying and tragic effects of nuclear weapons testing, especially when controlled conditions go awry, and in light of the far more powerful and destructive nuclear weapons that exist today.

On 2 December 2009, the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 29 August the International Day against Nuclear Tests by unanimously adopting resolution 64/35. The resolution calls for increasing awareness and education “about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.” The resolution was initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with a large number of sponsors and cosponsors with a view to commemorating the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on 29 August 1991.

2010 marked the inaugural commemoration of the International Day against Nuclear Tests. In each subsequent year, the day has been observed by coordinating various activities throughout the world, such as symposia, conferences, exhibits, competitions, publications, lectures, media broadcasts and other initiatives.

Since its establishment, many bilateral and multilateral governmental level developments as well as broad movements in civil society have helped to advance the cause of banning nuclear tests.

Moreover, “convinced that nuclear disarmament and the total elimination of nuclear weapons are the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of nuclear weapons,” the General Assembly designated 26 September as the “International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons”, which is devoted to furthering the objective of the total elimination of nuclear weapons, through the mobilization of international efforts. The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons was observed for the first time in September 2014. The International Day against Nuclear Tests, together with other events and actions, has fostered a global environment that strongly advocates for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The international instrument to put an end to all forms of nuclear testing is the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Unfortunately, this has yet to enter into force.

As the Secretary-General recognized in his disarmament agenda “Securing our Common Future” launched on 24 May 2018, the norm against testing is an example of a measure that serves both disarmament and non-proliferation objectives. By constraining the development of advanced new types of nuclear weapons, the CTBT puts a brake on the arms race. It also serves as a powerful normative barrier against potential States that might seek to develop, manufacture and subsequently acquire nuclear weapons in violation of their non-proliferation commitments.

Every effort needs to be made to ensure the entry into force of the CTBT and to preserve its place in the international architecture. In this regard, the Secretary-General appeals to all remaining States whose ratifications are required for the CTBT to enter into force to commit to sign the Treaty at an early date if they have not already done so, and to accelerate the completion of their ratification processes.

It is the hope of the UN that one day all nuclear weapons will be eliminated. Until then, there is a need to observe International Day against Nuclear Tests as the world works towards promoting peace and security.

To learn more about the background and significance of this observance, please visit un.org/en/observances/end-nuclear-tests-day.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. 

Past, Present and Future: Conflict and Cooperation in U.S. – China Relations

The U.S. and China

Past, Present and Future: Conflict and Cooperation in U.S.-China Relations

The prophetic historian Howard Zinn taught that if we don’t know our history, we can’t be free.  Without that knowledge, he warned, whenever a president comes on TV and says that we are in danger from here or there, we lack the framework needed to critically judge its truth.  Today the near unanimous Washington, media, and even scholarly and expert consensus is that China poses a dire threat to democracy and freedom around the world, and that our freedom requires defend them by challenging and containing China militarily, economically, technologically, diplomatically, and politically.  Provocative military operations near Taiwan or in the South China Sea carry the danger of an accident or miscalculation escalating to war, even a nuclear war.  Demonization of China also drives anti-Asian racism and violence across the United States, which must immediately be ended.

Understanding Chinese history and the history of U.S.-China relations provides us what we need to advocate for mutually beneficial policies and diplomacy, bringing the world back from the brink and opening the way for collaborations to address the existential threat of nuclear weapons, the climate emergency, and pandemics. Professors Mark Seldon and Zhiqun Zhu are uniquely qualified to share the essential histories of China and of U.S.–Chinese cooperation and competition.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZModOmorz4rHtwRKZ9w0MwVaDenIP6Hy8GI

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. 

Climate Investment Summit 2021: Accelerating Green Investments

Climate Investment Summit 2021 is a leading summit aimed at increasing investments in climate and green recovery – built on the experience of practitioners, best practice business models and cross-sector collaboration.

Read full program here.

The Climate Investment Summit is a pivotal milestone in the Climate Investment Coalition’s investment roadmap leading to a historical COP26 and beyond. The Summit will showcase the UK’s leading global position, commitment to net zero and the investment opportunities that this provides across the whole of the UK to catalyse billions of pounds of investment for the Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution.

Participate virtually here: climateinvestmentsummit.org

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. 

World Bank + IMF Annual Meetings

The 2021 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund will take place from Monday, October 11, through Sunday, October 17. All public and by-invitation-only events—including the Program of Seminars and other public events, ministerial meetings, CSO engagements, and press conferences—will be virtual and accessible on World Bank digital platforms. To accommodate time-differences, events may take place outside of the principal week.

At the heart of the Annual Meetings are the Annual Meetings plenary speeches, the joint World Bank Group/IMF Development Committee, and the IMF International Monetary and Financial Committee. Other featured events include regional briefings, press conferences, and fora focused on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial markets.

Registration will open in mid-August. Information about the schedule of the 2021 Annual Meetings will be posted soon – check back regularly for updates here: worldbank.org/en/meetings/splash/annual

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

In light of the situation related to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, States Parties have decided to postpone the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to a later date but no later than February 2022.

2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was originally slated to be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 27 April to 22 May 2020. Please adjust your calendars accordingly, as civil society’s voice cannot be excluded from this critical session.

Stay apprised & register to participate here: un.org/en/conferences/npt2020

About:

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development-NY, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

The Firearms Protocol and the Programme of Action on small arms turn 20

A Double Anniversary: The Firearms Protocol and the Programme of Action on small arms turn 20

2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the Programme of Action on small arms and light weapons and the Firearms Protocol. To celebrate this double anniversary, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) invite you to a joint high-level side event on the continued importance of the two instruments, a reflection on past achievements and challenges, and thoughts on the way forward in the framework of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The event will also feature voices from around the world through interactive video contributions.

Register here!

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org. or bobbinassar@gmail.com. 

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