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:

Name	Capacity
The Global Coalition for the Limitation of Armaments (GCLA)	A Civil society organization
Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights	A Civil society organization
Basel Peace Office Founded by the Canton of Basel-Stadt	international organization
Centre de Recherche et d’Information pour le Désarmement et Sécurité (CRIDS)	A Civil society organization
Peoples Federation for National Peace and Development (PEFENAP)	A Civil society organization
Commission Indépendante des Droits de l’Homme en Afrique du Nord	A Civil society organization
Peace Community Youth Association, Behind 500 Unit Housing Estate	A Civil society organization
Nigerian Red Cross Society, Yenagoa Division	A Civil society organization
IOPDHR-GENEVA Observatory	A Civil society organization
Juba Foundation	A Civil society organization
Ayman Okeil	A cassation lawyer and a human rights expert
Marc Finaud	Expert in Arms Proliferation
Alyn Ware	Director, Basel Peace Office
Nourhan Moustafa	Director of the International Humanitarian Law and disarmament Unit
Simabatu Mayele Sims Nono	Directeur Exécutif du Centre de Recherche et d’Information pour le Désarmement et Sécurité (CRIDS)
Aicha Duihi	President of IOPDHR-GENEVA Observatory
Sergey Marinin	Regional Project Manager of IWPR
Isabelle Gillet	Specialized in the field of peace and security
Edward Chaka	Executive Director at Peoples Federation for National Peace and Development (PEFENAP)
Moulay Lahsen Naji	Commission Indépendante des Droits de l’Homme en Afrique du Nord
Enas Shanger	An academic researcher in the field of international law and an employee of the International Cooperation Department of the National Council for Human Rights- Libya
Yan Khoruzhyi	Specialist in the field of peace and security public official- Ukraine
Ahmed El-SanhoutY	young researcher in the International Humanitarian Law and Disarmament
Ayat Atiyeh	young researcher
Arpit Vakilna	young researcher
Walid Farouk	young researcher
MATILD SANI	young researcher
sarah zaabi	young researcher
OZISULE SULEIMAN	Researcher in the field of disarmament
Isah Danasabe	Researcher in the field of disarmament
Kajelcha Fikadu Tufa	Researcher in the field of peace and
Yukti Saumya	young researcher in the International Humanitarian Law and Disarmament
Lama Audi	Mediator conflict management specialist
Ichrak MEKNI	researcher in the International Humanitarian Law and Disarmament
Nour Mohammed Nabawi	Researcher
Roxana Diestra Huerta	Human Rights defense Lawyer
Bashiru Musa	Community Youth President at Peace Community Youth Association, Behind 500 Unit Housing Estate
Olaoluwa Aina	A legal researcher
abukar Labdi	A legal researcher
Kofi Kankam	President and CEO EL Zika
Ismail Attia	A legal researcher
NIASS Sadikh	Researcher
Yomna Alkhwass	Researcher
Lukasz Niparko	Researcher& Advocate
Mohamed Zhran	Researcher& Advocate
Ayat Atiyeh	Researcher& Advocate