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TERMS OF REFERENCE Brainstorming Session Doral Arrowwood Conference Resort Background Last year, the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations hosted a brainstorming event which focused on exploring new perspectives and evolving consensus. Our work in that session enjoyed the participation of relevant stake holders: representative of NAM member states, the United Nations, and members of civil society. The outcome report shows that several important proposals and recommendations were offered at the various segments of the session. The event was convened against the background of successive failures of the international community to reach agreement on substantive issues of disarmament and non-proliferation despite the shared view that weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, continued to pose a grave threat to mankind. One year later, the delegation of Indonesia is still concerned that little progress has been made on the disarmament agenda. In various disarmament fora, such as the United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) and the Conference on Disarmament (CD) and the First Committee), positions concerning the Nuclear Disarmament/Non-Proliferation debate continue to be entrenched. Recent developments do, however, suggest there is hope for the future. These include the modest initial steps in the new NPT review cycle and--after a decade of stalemate--possible movement in the program of work of the CD. We also note several positive signals from the Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) and its constituents regarding the need to address the nuclear disarmament pillar of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In January 2007, four former prominent US government officials endorsed the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. More recently, the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, stated that her country considers NWS should embark on a genuine commitment and concrete action on nuclear disarmament and that the time had come to break the stand-off between disarmament and non-proliferation. Likeminded countries and the NGO community alike are taking initiatives towards bridging the deadlock. In short, the challenges continue but opportunities are also available to make progress in the ND-NP debate. We are of the view that the international community should continue to seek ways of finding that elusive consensus. This job cannot be avoided or wished away. We maintain that progress in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in all its aspects is essential to strengthening international peace and security and that all States must pursue and intensify multilateral negotiations, as agreed by consensus in the Final Document of the SSOD-I, with a view to achieving nuclear disarmament under effective international control and strengthening the international disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation regimes. Only solutions and agreements within the multilateral context can offer such hope or reassurance. To help seek ways of contributing to breaking the stalemate in the disarmament and non-proliferation file, and to facilitate the preparation for NAM engagement at future disarmament meetings, including the 62nd Session of the General Assembly and other UN-related disarmament meetings, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations has organized a brainstorming session on “Disarmament and Non-Proliferation: Breaking the Stalemate” on 11-12 August 2007 at the Doral Arrowwood Conference Resort, Weschester, New York. Objectives - to identify and analyze the current challenges and
opportunities in disarmament and non-proliferation; Date and Venue The session is scheduled to be held on 11-12 August 2007 at the Doral Arrowwood Conference Resort, Westchester, New York. Participants The session will be attended by representatives of the Permanent Missions of Member and Observers Countries of the NAM as well as representatives of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UN-ODA), the Monterey Institute for International Studies, and Non-Governmental Organizations. Expected Outcome It is expected that the session will provide inputs
to be further considered by the NAM Working Group on Disarmament for
the forthcoming 62nd Session of the General Assembly and facilitate
forthcoming disarmament meetings and conferences in which NAM may participate.
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