Bob Dodge: Day 2 NPT Rev. Com.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Day 2 NPT Rev. Com.

Day 2 was another full day as I try to figure out where and how to spend my time most effectively.

I started the day with an NGO planning session moved to a briefing with the Irish Ambassador on the current status of the NPT. Then off to the General Assembly where presentations by several national diplomats were heard including Denmark, UAE, Jordan among others.

Next a fabulous Mayors for Peace presentation opened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon followed by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Then off to a quick press conference where the foreign minister of Indonesia announced that Indonesia will ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) soon.

The afternoon was spent at an excellent forum on building support for a UN Nuclear Weapons Convention similar to the Landmine Convention coordinated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Finally the evening started with the opening of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization with dignitaries including CTBTO spokesman Michael Douglas.

Tomorrow our physicians group IPPNW will present the medical and environmental impacts of nuclear explosions.

1 comment:

UnknownMay 6, 2010 at 12:27 AM
Congratulations! I love the new information format. I'll be following the updates.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

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

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Day 2 NPT Rev. Com.

1 comment:

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me

Significant efforts among many

NPT Review Conference piece in Ventura Star on day of departure