Brahma Kumaris at United Nations

“We request all peoples, organizations and Governments to recognise and promote the efforts of the many thousands of NGOs and civil society organizations around the world which promote peace and disarmament at the community level and are the roots of our international movements.”

NGO Declaration: Disarming for Peace and Development, 62nd Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference, Mexico 2009.

Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainte, Information Officer, NGO Relations, Department of Public Information moderated today’s important briefing about the global, volatile and  critical issue of nuclear disarmament.

Joanne Robinson from Peace Action gave impassioned opening remarks. Nothing is more important than peace. Ban Ki Moon is speaking at the people’s conference on May 1st which indicates how critical this issue is, and that we are truly on the verge of making history. The Mexico conference last year revealed the powerful work that NGOs and civil societies are doing to establish peace. You are all making history – don’t think that you’re not - just as this declaration (above) did when it was presented before the Security Council. Never before had we seen civil society, governments and the UN working together to promote peace to this degree. One way we can improve is to support not only the conferences but the followup so that we can continue the solid work of civil society, and work with the UN to promote peace.

Daniel Prins, Chief, Conventional Arms Branch, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) explained that political discussion about disarmament is usually divided into Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Conventional Arms, however Arms can never become conventional. Yet 1.4 trillion dollars a year is spent on Arms proliferation. When we think about the MDGs, to achieve these goals only 1/10th of what we spend on arms every year, is required to see us achieve the MDGs by 2015. This gives a context of the money that is spent yearly on disarm. Decisions on Armament have traditionally been debated upon and decided by governments and people who work in security and military. This is not good enough any more. We need to tackle this issue from a development perspective. Countries and NGOs all have to rethink how we approach these issues. We can’t deal with it from the narrow perspective of state security, as it is so intertwined with development and indeed the MDGs. For example, the excessive accumulation of small arms in the world has a significant impact on development: Human Rights violations are from small Arms, Armed conflict is the main reason why people around the world are fleeing their homes, Arms is a major contributor to food insecurity and humanitarian aid is hampered tremendously and increasingly by armed conflict. Humanitarian Aid organizations now have to spend 25% of their own budget on their own security. This money is supposed to save the lives of others, not be spent protecting themselves against unnecessary forms of violence. Nothing undermines healthy development as much as armed security. There are strong arguments for better connecting violence and development issues, and disarmament. Member States and Civil Societies need to discuss this together. It is tremendously important to foster this communication and try to get government representatives to put this topic on their agenda so that that they broaden their vision of what disarmament and security really is. The broader development angle that needs to be considered. Douglas Roach said “security today requires the development of the human being and not the preparation for war.” We need to approach these issues in a wider context now, and in a more appropriate way.

Cora Weiss, President, Hague Appeal for Peace wished us a Happy 10th anniversary of Earth Day. Although the earth has little to celebrate, with the proliferation of bombs, craters, toxic fumes from military aircraft and new military bases being built.

Environmentalists and peace makers have lots of common. This argument needs to see us all prevail over individual interests. Civil societies all around the world are meeting and actively changing the political landscape of their worlds. Peace and disarmament activists now need to join hands hearts and minds with environmentalists. We can’t manage the future without each other. Welcome to the springtime of disarmament. There is an enormous amount of activity going on. Even though Obama says otherwise, surely in our lifetime we can see a future free of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, nuclear policy review in Washington has procedures to control and reduce Arms but doesn’t show us the way to get to zero which is the promise of the MPT (Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Program).

We’ve had more talk and action on nuclear weapons since President Reagan met with Gorbachev in the 1990s. Obama can now build on these efforts but not without us. I’m getting a little tired now… I’ve seen this movie a lot. It’s time for everybody here to realise the significance and importance of public opinion and action. Back in the 1960s, our civil work affected the presidency of the time. President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy became strong supporters in ceasing the atmospheric testing of weapons. Our public work of going around and educating people matters. We need to educate and mobilise. It’s remarkable that America still refuses to sign the ‘no first use treaty.’ Also, more bad news is that in the UN General Assembly many of the states of the Middle East opposed plans to reign in nuclear proliferators, and decided that any final document may be adopted by consensus. This is the only time we have given the General Assembly this power. Frightening because we are increasing our nuclear energy stores and building new uranium mines while we’re supposed to be cutting down. Nuclear energy is neither cost effect and nor green, and nuclear waste is used to create nuclear bombs. There are lots of renewable energy possibilities that we should be devoting our time and focus to.  Let us promote these renewable sources so we don’t’ need to produce nuclear energy. The point of today’s briefing is to talk about what we can do. Each one of us and all of us together. We really need to educate campaign. We need to teach our youngsters and teachers that nuclear energy is not healthy for children, adults and all other living beings. Conventional weapons aren’t conventional, but are extremely dangerous. If a state attacks the US with weapons we would respond with such lethality… and everyone is under the mushroom cloud. In 1999 we had a level playing field at the Hague conference where NGOs and Governments worked literally side by side. We need to take the bang out of cultural security as we go from a culture of violence to a culture of peace. The world is drowning in weapons. And the amount we’re spending on Arms globally is creating a tolerance to violence that is intolerable. Whatever NGOs we represent we can do something. Any conflagration, any war that includes new lethally dangerous weapons is not going to distinguish between Governments and civil societies, one State and another. We will all be destroyed. So, as long as I can think and see and read I will be supporting this issue and working on it with you.

Allison Pytlak, Disarmament Program Coordinator, Religions for Peace. Young people of faith particularly need to educate, advocate and mobilise. We must pin our actions on these three verbs. There is such an important link between disarmament and development. There is an obvious relationship for those who work in the field, but for many of us who are insulated we are unable to break out of our pneumatic shells. Our planet/ world is interconnected in ways that we cannot even imagine. The longer we work in isolation the more our problems will persist. Along with the need to educate, advocate and mobilise, we must above all communicate.

His Excellency Yuriy A. Sergeyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenpotentiary, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations. Thanks to all NGOs present for your dedication. I’m so excited by the enthusiasm around this room that more people like you, will motivate the governments to abide by their commitments. Ukraine is a member of all existing regimes on control of weapons and their production. This is a privilege and also huge responsibility. UNDPKO says that 90% of all arms trafficking is being commissioned by European Union USA etc. Another word for development is peace. But so many security contractors are mercenarial and have no accountability. They’re armed and many are former ‘peacekeepers’. There’s a  very serious conflict between the military that is trying to destroy and development that is trying to build.

Comments from NGOs and responses from the Panel

There has been no attempt by the UN to freeze military spending by all nations in the world, and the Security Council hasn’t come up with a concrete plan for disarmament even though it has been mandated under UN charter.

World military spending in 2011 is 3 trillion dollars. That doesn’t mean anything to anyone. We’ve become numb from numbers. But when you think that the US military budget is 53% of our entire countries spending and more than half of what the world spends. When we talk about disarmament one huge need is to reduce military spending. There is nothing like being the example. I wonder which Government is going to be that?

Mobilise your parliamentarians. The military budget is the only one that is the sacred cow in US spending and the only one that can’t be frozen and can’t be cut, which is an outrage!

People say that working in the UN lowers your expectations. Perhaps. But I haven’t lowered my ideals. It’s good to have lofty ideals as well as realistic expectations. If your ideal is that the UN is so powerful that it can dictate countries to disarm, that’s wonderful. But is it realistic at the moment? No.

How do financial mechanisms in UN perpetuate the status quo?

How do we take the profit out of war? We need to bring to accountability those countries that are buying and making. Even our retirement pension funds are in these companies too. Public opinion counts. We got the health care bill passed. If we want disarmament, we want military spending to go down, we have to mobilise and make it financial non-profitable for countries to go to war.

The tension that exists between realism and idealism is the crux of what we ought to be address. When I worked in DPI we were schooled that world public opinion is what matters. In informal discussions we’d say half the world is starving and half the world is dieting. It is the youth who have made a difference… Educating young adults who are in the midst of learning with the best minds of our time.

Let us thank Eleanor Roosevelt at least once a week for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Kofi Annan said “the ultimate crime is to miss the chance for peace and so condemn your people to the intolerable misery of war. Don’t despair. Don’t be discouraged. And don’t give up.
Tamasin

Today I attended the launch of Global Voices, an exhibition by “What moves you? of photographs and oral histories that transformed a drab construction fence into a vibrant expression of civil society views on the UN’s Millennium Goals to eradicate poverty, achieve universal primary education, and protect the environment.  What moves you?  is an initiative which our friend and UN colleague, Shamina de Gonzaga co-founded.  Shamina is also part of our Call-or-the-Time network.

We met our city officials, including Councilman Dan Garodnick, and environmental leaders.  We learned about green initiatives.  Heard about how we need to push back NY State’s development plan that will imperil our water supply by allowing the gas industry to drill in the Watershed, and learned how to support our parks and green spaces.   It was very aptly held on a Wednesday when the Greenmarket comes to the park, so on a sunny if somewhat windy day UN people, families and their dogs filled the park.  I was very touched by the community feeling and inspired by how even though our city is big, even in Manhattan, there can be a sense of a neighborhood.  A wonderful group called “Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza” were also there informing us how to volunteer our time and resources in helping the community’s long-term commitment to the parks preservation and upkeep. The Brahma Kumaris office is just off the park and we often walk through it on our way to and from the office and its natural elegance and community feeling is welcoming and refreshing.  In the summer we sometimes meditate as children play and adults amble on their way home.

Julia

Urbanization has changed the way in which we live and interact with out natural and built environments, to the point where the continued trend of nation states towards urbanization, often called ‘development,’ is irreversible.

Unplanned urbanization can have enormous consequences to many generations of people. And many of these can be negative if the people who reside in these environments are not considered as the city’s most critical element. The way in which we plan and live in our cities directly impacts upon public health. Urbanization is directly linked with health issues such as water, environment, violence and injuries, the safety of housing, diet, access to proper food, social and health-care services, physical activity, the use of drugs and alcohol, and the distribution of a city’s income and education opportunities for its residents.

Today our two speakers were Dr Marilyn Rice,Senior Adviser in Health Promotion and Team Coordinator of the Urban Health And Determinants of Health Team, for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)and the Regional Office for the Americas of the world Health Organization(WHO), and Dr Lourdes Hernandez-Cordero from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

Although they each gave excellent and distinct presentations, I will summarize both of their talks together, as there was a common theme. The theme that unified both speakers was that of value (that of recognizing the worth of people) and values(such as courage, political will, inclusion, responsibility and friendship) as a method that can “create just and beautiful cities”, which was Dr. Hernandez-Fordero’s answer to the topic “What can civil society do?”. While Dr. Rice was from a governmental organization and Dr Hernandez-Cordero from a university, both spoke about the powerful political will of non-government organizations. We (NGOs) are “the gestalt of the community.”

The importance of recognizing values as a core component of creating good healthy cities was brought to light when an NGO representative said that, in a city the size of New York – which is a tiny island with a large population -  the way in which people treat each other and treat the open spaces creates the entire flavor of the city. Values underpin decisions at all levels of government, that determine how much to develop and how much green land to retain, as well as how we co-exist with our open spaces. Do we use outside spaces as a place to get from office to home, or do I use open spaces to create positive relationships in my local neighbourhood, cultivate feelings of safety and experiences of belonging.

From the perspective of the Brahma Kumaris, values are born from deep attitudes. Attitudes based on a broad and sincere appreciation of every facet of human life is critical if we are to create just and beautiful cities. The physical environment responds to the people who inhabit it. When we live, and make decisions, based on values of fairness, grace and beauty our physical spaces will mirror this and become places of spiritual nourishment, environmental care and physical beauty.

The education of girls has consistently proved to be a critical link in alleviating all aspects of poverty including poor health, illiteracy, violence, disease, low income and problems in development.

Today’s Briefing began with an excerpt of the documentary ‘Time for School 3,’ presented by Tamara Rosenberg. This third part of a documentary series about girls education, follows the lives of particular girls in poor and vulnerable communities around the world. It powerfully demonstrated the impact that education can have on the life of one girl, the ripple effect that is experienced by her community, and the relative ease with which the MDG of girls education can be achieved.

H.E Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou, the Permanent Representative of Benin (Africa) to the United Nations, began by stating that the education of girls is a social vaccine against HIV. Therefore it must be presented as an investment rather than a cost.

His Excellency continued by talking through the alarming statistics of his country. One eighth of the population are girls between the age of 10-24, one sixth of the poverty lives below $2 per day, and 10 million people survive on below $1 per day. One seventh marry before the age of 15, and ½ are expected to marry before the age of 10. More than half of people infected with HIV are women. 75% of those afflicted with HIV are girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24. All these statistics give some indication as to why only 17% of girls in Benin are in secondary school.

Custom and tradition, in an area where 2/3 of the population practice voodoo, encourage girls to drop out of school and marry early, sometimes as young as 9. The government is now challenging these practices through education at the village level. From only 17% of girls attending school it has now become 51% because of local education initiatives that are working well with the local people, improving the overall capacity of remote and sometimes destitute villages.

If we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the value of teaching as a profession must be emphasised, and given support by local and national governments. Furthermore, decentralising administrative and political power more easily enables local communities to work for the benefit of their people.

Elizabeth Fordham, the education advisor for UNESCO in New York, clearly explained that the most strategic step to reducing poverty and improving health is educating girls. The benefits of girls education are many and proven, but as well as the great work that NGOs are doing with grassroots communities in the field, and they are doing it, achieving the MDG of girls education requires dedicated political will and financial commitment. Being born a girl still carries social disadvantage in many countries, therefore affirmative action is required as well as social education. Grassroots NGOs working with local communities need to be supported by governments in order to abolish gender based violence (acid attacks are still a real threat), prevent gender stereotyping in text books, enable financial support for girl children and their families and to find, target and improve local resources.

In many countries where these grassroots education initiatives are taking place, the girl is the child and daughter of the village, not just of the family. This is why, in the best circumstances, the entire village supports the education of the girl because the feeling among them is that her education will benefit the entire village. This is not about financial aid. It’s about social investment.

Winifred Doherty, NGO representative of the Congregation of our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd to the United Nations spoke on the basis of her 16 year experience working in Ethiopia in a variety of community-based education focussed projects. The visibility, empowerment and inclusion of girls in education is a form of holistic education, social empowerment and community transformation.

In Ethiopian kindergartens, very small girls engaged in activities and games designed to affirm and empower them. The children would then return home and share these stories of ‘best practices’ with their mothers as they reported about their day. Through grassroots education projects, many young girls have now become village mentors which is directing improving the financial and social development of entire villages. As a result, new generations are reaching levels of education, previously unknown.

As a faith-based NGO, we believe the best form of fieldwork is to capacitate local people and work with religious leaders to ensure that whatever we do - whether it be teaching values in education in Asia, facilitating outreach health care for tribals in North West India, or coaching leaders in North America - is relevant and beneficial for the local community. We respect local custom and traditions and respond to what the needs and wants of the community are. The last thing we want is a cookie cutter approach to deep social change. Working with local people is the best way to facilitate true lasting change that will facilitate the health, wellbeing, and happiness of future generations.

Tamasin