Taking forward multilateral disarmament negotiations

All advocates of the commencement of negotiation on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
REGARDING: ‚Route 66‘: UN Resolution A/C.1/66/L.2 „Taking forward
multilateral disarmament negotiations.“

Austria, Mexico, and Norway (A-M-N) tabled a resolution last week that points a way out of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) stalemate, should that stalemate not be resolve in 2012. It is running into opposition from the various states responsible for the stalemate over the last 15 years, and other who seem perfectly comfortable perpetuating it. The challenge is to isolate those who act in such bad faith, so the vast majority of UN members who are fed up with the CD charade can endorse this way forward, sending a final notice to the obstructionists.

There is superficial very similar resolution (not yet been assigned a number) advanced by the Netherlands, South Africa, and Switzerland which also gives notice to the CD, but fails to point a way out of the impasse, thereby undermining the credibility of the ’notification‘.
Some will try to pit these two resolutions against each other. We should press countries to vote for both (including the sponsors).

**Briefly, the way forward in A/C.1/66/L.2 is a proposal to have the next UNGA establish working groups to cover the four work areas identified — but then neglected — by the CD. Among these areas is

‚the achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons.‘

The working groups, operating under UNGA rules would not be obstructed by the ‚consensus veto‘ that prevents the CD from taking even small procedural decisions when one nation objects. The working groups would be open to all members of the United Nations. Please see the attached annotated version of the resolution for more details.

There are just two weeks to influence the voting. Please drop one nonessential activity for an hour or so and devote that time to calling or writing to your contacts in the Foreign Ministry or the UN Delegation. If you are at the First Committee please buttonhole any and every delegate you can. It is simply unacceptable for the UN to remain rudderless on this vital issue of human survival.
Mayors for Peace will soon put the attached Action Kit (with links) on its website. Please see the attached documents for a preview.
Reaching Critical Will has created a special section on „Proposal for revitalizing multilateral disarmament negotiations“ on its UNGA First Committee webpage 

http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/1com11.html

, and will be reporting on the positions taken by various states. Before engaging your own government, you might want to check if they have said anything yet.

Further Information