Working group for Peace and Human Security
Armed violence takes 2000 lives every day. It destroys livelihoods and breeds fear and terror. To get the guns off the streets, one needs to limit the demand but also the supply of guns. Irresponsible arms transfers fuel conflict, poverty and abuses. Further, excessive, unaccountable and inappropriate military spending can divert funds from social spending such as education and health care.
The main objectives of ForUM's Working Group for Peace and Human Security are:
• a strong Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in 2012 that is effective, comprehensive, global, legally binding, that builds on international law and closes loopholes. Those affected must be heard.
• a responsible Norwegian arms export. State-owned ams arms and ammunitions manufacturers like Nammo must follow strict Norwegian regulations regardless of where their factories are.
• military spending must be reduced to an appropriate level. The neglected UN Charter article 26, saying the Security Council shall present a plan for reducing "diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic resources", must be implemented.
• civil contributions to peacekeeping and peacebuilding must be strengthened
• peacebuilding through sustainable management - and fair distribution - of natural resources, including water and land.
Arms Trade Treaty - we need it now
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Campaigners from around the world are calling on states to commit to the start of formal negotiations of an Arms Trade Treaty next year, with a deadline in 2012. We need an effective treaty urgently. Read more »
UN: Armed violence undermines development
Friday 11 December 2009
In a recent report, the UN Secretary-General recognizes that armed violence undermines development and constitutes an impediment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Read more »
World's Biggest Arms Traders Promise Global Arms Treaty
Friday 13 November 2009
After years of discussions and debates, the vast majority of governments – 153 in total - at the UN on 30 October agreed a timetable to establish a “strong and robust” Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) with the “highest common standards” to control international transfers of conventional arms. There is currently no global Treaty on the conventional arms trade Read more »
Contact:
Borghild Tønnessen-Krokan, Advisor
Email: borghild@forumfor.no
Phone: (+47) 92091689
Norwegian organizations: Amnesty, Atlas Alliance, Changemaker, Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian Missions in Development, Norwegian Peace Association, Norwegian People's Aid, Save the Children, United Nations Association of Norway, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
Associated: No to Nuclear Weapons
International NGO cooperation:
Control arms campaign (www.controlarms.org; www.conflictvoice.org), led by Amnesty International, Oxfam and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA, where ForUM is member). The following organisations are in its ATT NGO Steering Committee (where ForUM is an observer): Africa Peace Forum (Kenya), Albert Schweitzer Institute, Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress (Costa Rica), Asociacion para Políticas Públicas (Argentina), Caritas, Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quaker lobby), Instituto Sou da Paz (Brazil), Nonviolence International (Sørøst-Asia), Project Ploughshares, Saferworld, SweFOR, Viva Rio (Brazil), Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (Trinidad).
International Peace Bureau, Geneva (www.ipb.org) and its Disarmament for Development Campaign
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (www.wilpf.ch)
History:
The working group was re-established after ForUM coordinated the civil society markings of the 10th Anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty in Oslo in 2007, in cooperation with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Nobel Women's Initiative, the Red Cross, the Norwegian People's Aid, the Atlas alliance and others.
ForUM Contact
Contact information (both postal and street address):
ForUM
Storgata 11
0155 Oslo
Telephone: (+ 47) 23 01 03 00
Fax: (+ 47) 23 01 03 03
General e-post: forumfor@forumfor.no
