Bob Dodge: Day 1 - NPT Rev. Con.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 1 - NPT Rev. Con.

Today May 3, was the official first day of the '2010 NPT Review Conference.

It was an amazing day with two 3 hour sessions in the General Assembly with simultaneous "sidebars" of the participating NGO's.

I enjoyed myself going back and forth dependent on the session and presenters. The conference was opened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who was inspirational and a true "Beyond Warrior"! He is totally supportive of nuclear abolition and is a major driving force of this "Rev Con".

Presentations throughout the day ranged from Hiroshima and Nagasaki Mayors Akiba and Tomihisa Taue to Iran President Ahmadinejad and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - somewhat different perspectives!

The sidebars were excellent from a panel program called "From Omnicide to Abolition" coordinated by my friend David Krieger of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.napf.org) to an overview of "Eliminating Nuclear Threats" by the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. (www.icnnd.org)

I also had the privilege of making many physician IPPNW (www.ippnw.org) contacts from Sweden, Germany and Canada. It is an impressive group of leaders.

After day one, there is a sense that now is the time that something can and must be done to deal with the greatest threat to mankind. There is a realization that deterrence has nothing to do with our survival this past 65 years of the nuclear age - only sheer luck! It remains to be seen how long our luck can hold out without action.

2 comments:

Jake DodgeMay 3, 2010 at 8:22 PM
great pictures glad to see you visited with katie. i can feel your energy and am so excited for you to be there love you joanie
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AnonymousMay 4, 2010 at 9:31 AM
Good for you Bob. You are doing what so many of us are either too lazy or too busy to do. Keep it up.
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Significant efforts among many

-Physicians for Social Responsibility - www.psr.org

-International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War www.ippnw.or g

-Beyond War - www.beyondwar.org

-Global Zero - www.globalzero.org

-International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons www.icanw.org

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation - www.napf.org

Nuclear Threat Initiative - www.nti.org

Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World - www.nuclearweaponsfree.org

Mayors for Peace "Vision 2020 Campaign" - www.2020visioncampaign.org

Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions - www.c-p-r.net

Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament - www.PNND.org

Inter-Parliamentary Union - www.IPU.org

NPT Review Conference piece in Ventura Star on day of departure

Ventura doctor heading to U.N. nuclear conference

By Anne Kallas

Friday, April 30, 2010

Capping more than 30 years of dedication to nuclear disarmament, Ventura physician Robert Dodge has been selected as one of two Californians to serve on the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 2010 Review Conference, which starts Monday in New York City.

Dodge is going as a delegate of Physicians for Social Responsibility and its American affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its work on the risks and health effects of nuclear explosions. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will lead the U.S. delegation.

Dodge, a family physician and a founder of the Ventura-based Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions, will attend the first week of the month-long conference on the United Nations non-proliferation treaty, which is reviewed every five years.

He described it as “the cornerstone treaty on nuclear weapons, control and disarmament. There are other treaties, such as START, etc., but this is the cornerstone with 190 signatory nations.”

The conference will look at the treaty’s three pillars: that nuclear states not give nuclear materials to non-nuclear states; that all states agree to negotiations for disarmament; and that all agree to recognize the right of any nation to develop nuclear power, said Dodge, adding that he has personal reservations about the last pillar.

Martha Arguello, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Los Angeles, said Dodge was the best choice to attend the conference.

“He is an exemplary example of a physician who understands healing happens outside of the clinical setting, as well as an incredible ambassador, educating people about dangers of nuclear war. For us, he is the ideal person because he understands prevention is our only option,” Arguello said.

Dodge said he is paying his own way to attend the conference, where he hopes to speak with delegates from the United States and other countries about the dangers that nuclear stockpiles pose. He said the United Nations asked for non-government groups to provide input during this review, and while he won’t be making any official presentations, he will be working behind the scenes for nuclear disarmament.

Dodge said he became involved in nuclear disarmament and peace issues as a young man, and his commitment was cemented after the birth of his first child, David, in 1982.

“I am doing this from the standpoint basically both as a physician and as somebody who came out of the ’60s and ’70s with a sense of making a better world,” Dodge said. “It is our responsibility as parents to speak out on one of the most catastrophic threats to mankind.”

Bob Dodge

Overview 2010 Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Conference

2010 NPT Review Conference

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 1 - NPT Rev. Con.

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Significant efforts among many

NPT Review Conference piece in Ventura Star on day of departure