NGO Hearings in view of the Millennium + 5 Summit

Intervention presented by Mrs. Edith Ballantyne, WILPF Special Advisor on the UN

I speak for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, which marks its 90th anniversary of work for the prevention of conflict, the elimination of the war system, for economic and social justice - for peace.

We agree with much of what has been said by the speakers. We want to stress the dimension of disarmament in conflict prevention. We find both the Secretary General’ report and the President’s Draft Outreach Document weak on disarmament. We urge that the Outcome Document reactivate the vibrant disarmament agenda of the 1970s through the 1980s – the agenda for nuclear disarmament and also for general and complete disarmament.

We have specific proposals for paragraph 50 of the Draft Outreach Document. But first let me say that WILPF believes it is time to implement Article 26 of the UN Charter which charges the Security Council to formulate a ;system of arms regulations in order to ‘promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources’.

Now specifically to the Draft Outreach Document, we urge that in the second bullet line of paragraph 50, the nuclear weapons states be firmly reminded that the indefinite extension of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was decided in 1995 on the basis of certain commitments on their part which they must now fulfil without delay. They must also implement the agreements made, particularly in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the NPT.

We want that this coming session of the General Assembly insist that the Conference on Disarmament take steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and prohibit now all steps toward its weaponization.

Paragraph 47 recognizes the need for further discussing the principles for the use of force identified by the Secretary General. NGOs and CSOs should be included in this discussions because it is our lives that are at stake.

All in all, we consider it is time to involve civil society in the security, disarmament and peace building issues as they are discussed at the level of governments and the United Nations. Appropriate procedures should be established accordingly.

With regard to the proposals for a peace building commission and related mechanisms. We strongly suggest that peace building must include in the first place prevention with a strong emphasis on disarmament measures and genuine economic and social development policies. We also believe that peace education must be a strong component.

Finally, we urge governments that before deciding on any of the proposed reforms they first look carefully at the Charter to see whether today’s needs of the majority of the countries and peoples would not be better met through fully developing all its provisions in particular those under the Economic and Social Council than through introducing reforms that tend to change some fundamental premises on which the United Nations came into being.