A petition addressed to the representatives of the States Parties and the countries holding the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament (CD): Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, and Hungary.

Gentlemen, representatives of the States Parties,

Weapons of all kinds pose a grave threat to all humanity. Besides, their ongoing manufacture in large quantities and sale in illegal ways threaten international security. Every year, thousands of people are killed, injured, and forced to flee their homes due to gun-related violence and armed conflicts.

Gentlemen, representatives of the States Parties and Presidents of the CD: Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, and Hungary,

Allowing Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to participate in the world’s sole negotiating body for multilateral nuclear disarmament (Disarmament Conference) will greatly contribute to highlighting how countries can achieve development and face disarmament challenges. Many recommendations are therefore made to: the presidency of the Conference to address those challenges; and the governments of countries to abide by the Convention and international law and not to use any type of internationally prohibited weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction.

Civil Society Organizations’ participation in this Conference will enable them to help the member states in the Conference prepare reports on disarmament. By acting as a link between states and the Conference, CSOs will play a major role in facilitating the exchange of information, improving report writing, and helping countries regularly.

Accordingly,

 We – the petition signatories – invite you

To involve CSOs in all formal and informal discussions, as desired by the States Parties and the countries holding the presidency of the CD, through:

• Amending Article XII of the Conference’s bylaws, which is ambiguous about the participation of CSOs and works to restrict their participation, thus having a great impact on the success of the Conference.
• Allowing CSOs to actively participate in the Conference, whether through oral or written interventions, and preparing workshops, training programs, and side events, which will deeply enhance the role of discussions between countries and CSOs whose constructive feedback and comments would be helpful.

The petition signatories: