WCC active at UN Conference to review control of small arms trade
Child soldier, Liberia, 1996
A multi-religious prayer service and a debate on ethical dilemmas in micro-disarmament are being organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) within the framework of the UN Review Conference on the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons taking place in New York from 26 June - 7 July 2006.
In addition to representatives from different faith communities, speakers at the 26 June multi-religious service include UN officer-in-charge, Conventional Arms Branch, Department for Disarmament Affairs, Ms Pamela J. Maponga, and Mr Daniel Prins, deputy head of mission of the Netherlands delegation to the UN conference. The service is being co-sponsored by the WCC with the World Conference of Religions for Peace, the Anglican observer to the UN, and the Office of the Church Center for the UN (CCUN), and is being held in the CCUN's Tillman Chapel, beginning at 18:30.
At the 27 June debate, Bishop Denis Sengulane of Mozambique, Caritas Internationalis leader and former French ambassador Didier Destremau, representatives of the Ecumenical Network on Small Arms and invited diplomats will discuss the ongoing and future ethical dilemmas in micro-disarmament in general, and the arms trade in particular.
This WCC-organized event takes place in the Dag Hammarskjold Library at the UN from 13:15-14:45.
Contact person for the 26 June prayer service and the 27 June debate: Katherine Nightingale - mobile phone: +1.917.325.6628
More information on the NGO involvement in the UN Review Conference is available on the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) website
