The NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security has several major program areas:

NGO Coordination

Our Committee facilitates the participation of NGOs in formal disarmament meetings at the UN, such as the General Assembly First Committee debates and review meetings and prepcoms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This is a central function of the NGO Committee, as a main liaison between the NGO community and the UN Secretariat, and active partner of both.

The Committee assists the UN Secretariat with NGO accreditation, conducts orientation and citizen diplomacy training, organizes briefings with key delegates and journalists, and arranges NGO presentations and special events within and outside the UN. We also advocate for a broader NGO role in the UN system. No one can doubt the importance of the formal participation of civil society in disarmament negotiations: witness NGOs' precedent-setting role in obtaining a convention banning anti-personnel land mines.

Disarmament Times

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In order to pressure their governments to take constructive action, NGOs require timely and nuanced information. Ours is the only publication providing full and timely coverage of UN disarmament news. Distributed free at UN headquarters in New York, Geneva and Vienna and mailed to other decision-makers, it offers primary information of use to lobbyists, legislators, researchers, NGOs and the interested public. Many delegations use Disarmament Times as a key source for reporting to their capitals.

Fora and Programs

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The NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security holds panel discussion on arms control and disarmament issues particularly during the time the General Assembly First Committee, the Disarmament and International Security Committee, is in session in the fall and also in the spring when the Disarmament Commission meets. These fora provide a way in which NGO proposals and NGO expert advice can be introduced into the discussion that takes place at the UN. Most panels have both NGO experts and delegates as participants. Increasingly, throughout the year, the Committee is also holding discussions on initiatives to resolve regional conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and elsewhere. We welcome suggestions from NGOs working in conflict areas for future programming.

Deweaponization and Civil Society (DEWs)

As the substantive CONGO Committee in this area, we accepted the 2008 invitation to participate in this initiative by the NGO/DPI Executive Committee. It aims at engaging the global civil society more actively in preventing, curbing and dealing with the aftermath of recurring intra-state violence. It is undertaken at a time often described as a defining moment for disarmament. Multilateral negotiators are now confronting unprecedented challenges to retain the fabric of the international agreements for non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction while facing unpredictable developments that fall through the cracks in the relatively recent regime for controlling illicit traffic and wrongful use of small arms and light weapons. It is a challenge that call for thinking outside the box, especially when the weapons in use are not intended to be deployed as such and the causes for intra-state violence, with or without weapons, are not necessarily related to criminality, insurgency or terrorism.

International Networking

The majority of NGOs interested in peace and disarmament never visit the UN headquarters, but the success of their work and their influence with governments are greatly enhanced by knowing what goes on here. The Committee participates in electronic networks and online correspondence with hundreds of NGOs worldwide. It maintains a web site (www.disarmtimes.org), which provides a great deal of information on disarmament issues and also has links to hundreds of organizations concerned with disarmament and peace issues.

Networking with NGOs Involved in Resolving Conflicts

There is often little reportage in the press of the efforts of NGOs in conflict areas to resolve those conflicts. Few know that there are NGOs in India and Pakistan in contact with each other which are endeavoring to improve relations between their countries. Or that there are Israeli and Palestinian NGOs working together to achieve peace in the Middle East. We believe it is imperative to support such groups. Please contact us with information about other NGOs that are doing similar work. We will publicize their activities on our web site.

Disarmament Education

In 2001, the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, along with a communications professor at Fordham University, co-sponsored a graduate seminar on disarmament policy at the UN. UN diplomats, staff members from the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, UN correspondents, and NGO representatives spoke with the students about different aspects of disarmament. This pilot project can be built upon and repeated in the future as feasible.