Nobel Laureate Jody Williams and Miguel Marin-Bosch, former Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in Geneva, were among a list of distinguished keynote speakers attending the Sixty-Second Annual DPI/NGO Conference, which took place in Mexico City on the 9-11 September.
Following Fr. Hilary's return from attending this meeting in Mexico as the Augustinian Order's offcial representative, we are including some of the information from that meeting on this site.
Ms. Williams, Ambassador Marin-Bosch and other speakers addressed the opening session of the three-day premier event of the non-governmental organizations associated with the Department of Public Information (DPI).
Jody Williams, Chair of Nobel Women´s Initiative, who spearheaded the negotiation of a multilateral treaty which banned landmines, also gave an exclusive interview with UN Radio, Williams spoke about the power of NGOs to achieve changes in the field of nuclear disarmament. For details of this interview ....
WILLIAMS: I'd have to say that I am an example only in the sense that I am one of tens and thousands of ordinary people who came together to work on a common goal which was banning landmines. We communicated on a daily basis recognizing that information is power and that if everybody in the campaign had the same information we'd all move forward with power to pressure governments to get rid of landmines.
My message to people here today on nuclear disarmament is believing that we have an opportunity which if we can seize properly there might be movement toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. If we don't seize it properly I think we're going to see a new nuclear arms race which will be more volatile and more frightening and more threatening to actual nuclear use.
UN RADIO: Do you think it will be harder to achieve nuclear disarmament than it was to impose a ban on landmines?
WILLIAMS: Well, there are certain features of an effective campaign that can be used no matter what you are working on and I believe that if more of the tools we used in banning landmines were applied to the various separate efforts to get rid of nukes, if there was way more cooperation sharing instead of turf guarding, there'd be a better chance to have some success to move it forward.
And do you think that this conference will in any way contribute to the work by the Security Council in terms of trying to spread the message that this needs to be done?
I think that anytime people come together with commitment to a goal, each effort does add to the momentum. But in order for each effort adding to the momentum to really amount to serious forward movement, there has to be continuous coordination and communication and sharing, or it doesn't happen. It's very easy to divide and conquer.
UN RADIO: Some last words?
WILLIAMS: As a US citizen, I am heartened that President Obama has said beautiful words about nuclear disarmament and the United States being one of the leaders to make it happen. I am very concerned because right now, in my country, there is a nuclear posture review and it's critical the outcome of that nuclear posture review, if it doesn't support the forward movement that President Obama is talking about, it will be very clear that it's more nuclear hypocrisy in the world. Then we will say that Mr. Obama while he talks the talk, the system, the institution that wants more nukes is not ready to walk the walk. And that's really the terrifying aspect of what we're seeing right now.
PRES: Jody Williams, Chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative speaking to UN Radio from Mexico.
Producer: Rosa Rivera
Duration: 2'43"
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