Determined to Save Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War

DPI/NGO Relations with the kind sponsorship of the 
Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations 
invite you to the Briefing

“Determined to Save Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War”
                 
 Date: Thursday, 6 June 2013
Time:  10:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
                         Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building, United Nations Headquarters

OPENING REMARKS
H.E. Mr. Paul Seger, Ambassador of Switzerland to the United Nations 

PANEL
Ms. Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Chair, Nobel Women’s Initiative

Mr. Ralph Zacklin, Former United Nations Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, 1998-2005 

Ms. Nounou Booto Meeti, Programme Manager, Centre for Peace, Security and Armed Violence Prevention

Background Information

The Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations begins with the words “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.” These opening words continue to serve as a reminder that the UN itself was created to help prevent war, and of the ruin that war can bring upon the world.

Since the UN’s creation, the international community has not seen a conflict with the same level of globally widespread catastrophe as the Second World War, which motivated governments toward its creation. Unfortunately, the “scourge of war” has not disappeared. Now, nearly 70 years after the Charter’s signing, ongoing violent conflicts continue to inflict unimaginable suffering around the world. Some, like the current crisis in Syria, resulting in over 70,000 deaths so far, have no end in sight.

Although not every part of the world directly experiences widespread violent conflict, the implications of militarization touch every corner of the global village. Over $1.7 trillion is spent globally on armaments, making up about 2.5 percent of the world’s GDP. Figures like these have prompted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to stress several times that “the world is over-armed and peace is underfunded.”

This Briefing will bring together a diverse and high-level panel to discuss the role of war in recent human history and how far humanity has advanced in limiting the scourge of war, particularly since the signing of the UN Charter. The Briefing will highlight various aspects of this topic, including the idea that peace comes through strength, the questioning of increasing militarism in society, and the view that the institution of war should be abolished, just as institutions of slavery, colonialism; apartheid and the prohibition of women from voting have been eliminated.

This Briefing will begin promptly at 10:15 a.m. and we ask that our audience be seated 
by 10:00 a.m. sharp.

United Nations-produced videos relevant to the theme of the Briefing are sometimes screened during the session.  For Briefing information please call the DPI/NGO Resource Centre at +1-212-963-7232 / 7233 / 7234 or e-mail dpingo.briefings@un.org. To receive the Briefing information electronically, please email dpingo.briefings@un.org. You may also visit the DPI/NGO Relations Cluster website at www.un.org/dpi/ngosection, where archived web casts and audio (both, when available) of the Briefing may also be accessed.
 

Requests for NGO guest passes should be faxed on organization letterhead to the DPI/NGO Resource Centre at +1 212-963-2819 or e-mailed to dpingo.briefings@un.org AT LEAST TWO BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR to the Briefing. [Please note that pass requests received at any other email address will not be processed.] All guest passes should be picked up at the DPI/NGO Resource Centre, Room GA-37, on the morning of the Briefing.  NGOs are reminded that this Briefing starts promptly at 10:15 a.m. Guests in need of an NGO sponsor for a UN guest pass are asked to contact Mr. Charles Hitchcock at hitchcockc@ngodpiexecom.org no later than 1 June 2013.

NOTE: This Briefing will be webcast live at webtv.un.org. You can post questions and comments during the session on our Twitter hashtag (#DPINGO).
United Nations, DPI/NGO Relations Section, Room DC-1 550
Tel: (917) 367-9380 / (212) 963-7709  Fax: (212) 963-2819  E-mail: section1d@un.org