On December 15, the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) released its final report.

Entitled "Eliminating nuclear threats: A practical agenda for global policymakers", the report makes recommendations for action towards nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Notably, it delegitimizes the role played by nuclear weapons in security policies, challenges the concept of deterrence and supports the idea of a nuclear weapons convention.

Yet, claiming the need to be "realistic", the Commission sets a pace for nuclear disarmament that is so slow some fear that "rather than adding to the global momentum for nuclear abolition, there is a danger that it could in fact act as a brake." Furthermore, it fails to set "a practical path to nuclear abolition as an urgent and achievable goal."*

In response to the report, civil society issued a joint statement signed by several Australian, Japanese and other NGOs, together with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The NGO statement expresses civil society's disappointment at the many shortcomings of the report and depicts "another reality", in which "the majority of people and nations in the world want nuclear weapons abolished quickly" and reminds how a majority of countries endorsed a UN resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons, signed nuclear-weapon-free-zone treaties and supports the commencement of negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention.

It is now crucial that governments take initiatives to accelerate the pace towards nuclear abolition. The next opportunity to make progress will come in May at the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

The Global Article 9 Campaign joins its voice to the global call to realize a world without nuclear weapons - now!

The full ICNND report as well as a synopsis are available on ICNND's web site here.

* Read the joint NGO statement here.

Visit the ICNND Japan NGO Network website for more information, here.

This year, the Global Article 9 Campaign has followed the many dimensions that emerged from the 2008 Global Article 9 Conference: from conflict prevention to disarmament, development, peacebuilding, the promotion of peace constitutions worldwide and more.

In addition, significant events and developments on the international scene have led the Campaign to particularly concentrate on a few themes and regions, notably nuclear weapons abolition, disarmament for development  and conflict prevention, with a particular regional focus on Northeast Asia and Latin America.

Nuclear Weapons Abolition

2009 has seen the debate on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation come a long way, thanks to a number of encouraging developments, notably US President Obama's speech in Prague, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's five-point action plan, Washington and Moscow's renewed commitment to decrease nuclear weapons stockpiles, progress in the Conference on Disarmament and the holding of a historic UN Security Council's meeting on the topic.

Seizing this momentum, the Global Article 9 Campaign took part in several significant initiatives in the area of nuclear weapons abolition:

Peace Boat Hibakusha Project

From August to December 2009, ten Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings) joined Peace Boat's around-the-world Voyage for Peace to act as peace and disarmament educators. Since 2008, delegations of Hibakusha have gone onboard to educate citizens, NGOs and youth throughout the world about the spirit of Article 9 and raise awareness on the global value of Article 9 as an international peace mechanism. The Global Article 9 Campaign has supported this project, for Hibakusha serve as strong advocates of nuclear weapons abolition and convincing messengers of the Campaign's call for a global peace and stability that do not rely on force.

Visit Peace Boat's website here.

International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND)

The ICNND is a joint Australian and Japanese initiative aimed at reinvigorating international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, in the lead up to the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and beyond. The appointment of Kawasaki Akira, Executive Member of Peace Boat and central organizer of the Global Article 9 Campaign, as NGO Advisor to the Co-chairs of the Commission has provided a firm basis for advocacy on nuclear weapons abolition, disarmament and human security.

Visit the ICNND Japan NGO Network here.

International Peace Constitutions Conference for Nuclear and Foreign Military Base Abolition

The Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War co-organized, along with Peace Boat and the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases (NO Bases), an International Peace Constitutions Conference for Nuclear and Foreign Military Base Abolition that took place in November in Ecuador. The event focused on the concrete functions and outcomes of peace constitutions, especially in the areas of nuclear weapons abolition and foreign military base abolition. The final declaration of the conference urged governments to adopt pacifist clauses in their countries' constitution, encouraged the adoption of a UN resolution that recognizes the role that peace constitutions can have in the promotion of global security and disarmament for development, and called on world governments to take concrete steps towards the abolition of nuclear weapons and the strengthening of international mechanisms for arms control, non-proliferation and the disarmament of ALL weapons.

Read more about the conference here.

Disarmament for Development

Since 2008, the Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War has worked in concert with partners, including the International Peace Bureau's program on Sustainable Disarmament for Sustainable Development and Freres des Hommes' campaign for "Disarmament to Combat Poverty", jointly advocating a shift in resource allocation from the military to sustainable development and human security.

"Warfare or Welfare: Disarmament or Peace, Human Security and Development in 21st Century India"

While Aero India 2009 Exhibition was taking place in Bangalore, India, the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), the Foundation for Educational Innovation in India (FEDINA), Christ University and the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) organized a counter-event on disarmament for peace, human security and development. A representative of the Global Article 9 Campaign participated in the event, introducing the Campaign as an example of how civil society can use specific local experiences to contribute successfully to the global debate. The conference advocated for an arms trade treaty and called for a ten percent reduction of military expenditures to be invested instead in areas like social security, health and education.

Visit the conference's website here.

Statement to the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development

In June, the United Nations General Assembly convened a Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development in New York aimed at identifying emergency and long-term responses to mitigate the impact of the crisis and initiating a dialogue on how to tackle it. The Global Article 9 Campaign endorsed a statement issued by Peace Boat calling on governments, in addition to mobilizing new innovative sources of financing development, to reconsider their spending priorities, reduce their military expenses and reallocate part of their military budget into sustainable development and peace promotion.

Read the full statement here.

Article 9 & Article 12 Conference - Peace Constitutions for Global Disarmament

In July, the Global Article 9 Campaign co-organized an international event held onboard Peace Boat at the port of Puntarenas, Costa Rica. In addition to exploring the value of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and Article 12 of the Costa Rican Constitution's regional and global significance, the conference looked at the links between these peace clauses and Article 26 of the United Nations Charter, which calls for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments with the least diversion of the world's human and economic resources for armaments in order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security. The Puntarenas Declaration called for the adoption of a UN resolution acknowledging the role peace constitutions play in promoting global disarmament and urges government to shift priorities in the allocation of resources and decrease military expenditures to invest in financing sustainable development, human security and peace. This event was co-sponsored by the Global Article 9 Campaign, Peace Boat, the Latin American Branch of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), the Faculty of Law at the University of Costa Rica, and the Japanese Lawyers International Solidarity Association (JALISA).

Read more about the conference here.

Six Party Talks

The North Korean missile launch in April led to several civil society initiatives and statements related to Article 9 of Japan's Constitution and its use as the foundation for Northeast Asian security:

Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict's (GPPAC) Northeast Asia Regional Steering Group meeting

In April, GPPAC Northeast Asia Regional Steering Group's meeting focused on the theme "Civil Society Six-Party Talks" as a framework for conflict prevention and peacebuilding in the region. Participants reiterated some of the fundamental messages of the 2005 GPPAC Northeast Asia Regional Action Agenda, namely the need to create a sustainable peace in Northeast Asia based on Article 9's three fundamental principles of renunciation of war, no maintenance of military or other war potential and the right for people to live in peace.

Read GPPAC Northeast Asia Regional Action Agenda here.

International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense and for the End of the Arms Race

The International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense and for the End of the Arms Race took place at the same time as the GPPAC meeting and insisted as well on the need to urgently address the root causes of the conflict and  the important role civil society can play in helping to resolve conflicts. The two meetings adopted a joint statement denouncing the arms race taking place in the Asia Pacific region and referring to "the war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's peace constitution [as] a key foundation for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region."

Read more about the conference here.

"The Future of the Six-Party Talks - A view from civil society"

Co-sponsored by Sejong Society of Washington DC and the Institute for Policy Studies, a panel discussion on the "Future of the Six-Party Talks" was held at Johns Hopkins University, in Washington D.C. in May. Experts and activists from South Korea, Japan and the US explored how to resume the stalled Six-Party Talks, work towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and bring about peace in Northeast Asia. One of the main speakers, Kawasaki Akira from Peace Boat and the Global Article 9 Campaign (Japan), emphasized the need to pursue confidence-building measures and promote conflict prevention in Northeast Asia, and encourage a less military-dependent security mechanism in the region.

Pacific Freeze Campaign

The Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War has endorsed the Pacific Freeze Campaign - an initiative aimed at bringing Asian issues into the US peace movement and supporting peace efforts in Northeast Asia, especially by building momentum around the Six Party Talks. The two campaigns have jointly called on the participating countries to freeze and reduce their military spending and redirect the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on preparing for war towards improving the lives and welfare of millions of people to achieve human security in the region and globally.
Visit the Pacific Freeze Campaign's website here.

Promotion of Peace Constitutions

The preservation of Article 9 of Japan's Constitution and the promotion of peace clauses in other countries' constitutions have been at the core of the Global Article 9 Campaign's advocacy and activities.

Peace Constitutions Conferences

Both the Article 9 & Article 12 Conference - Peace Constitutions for Global Disarmament held in Costa Rica in July and the International Peace Constitutions Conference for Nuclear and Foreign Military Base Abolition that took place in Ecuador in November focused on the contribution of Japan's Article 9 and of the several Latin American peace constitutions, notably those of Costa Rica and Ecuador. In addition to the role of such peace clauses at the national level, the regional and global dimension of peace clauses was emphasized. Indeed, peace constitutions play an important role in fostering an environment conducive to peace, disarmament and sustainable development. The Puntarenas Declaration and the Manta and Montecristi Declaration called on governments to adopt a peace clause into their own national Constitutions, similar to Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, Article 12 of the Costa Rican Constitution and Articles 5, 416 and others of the Ecuadorian Constitution. They also encouraged countries that already have a peace clause to adhere to it and advocated for the adoption of a UN resolution acknowledging the role peace constitutions can play in promoting global security and disarmament for development.

Read more about the Global Article 9 Conferences here.

International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)'s XVIIth International Congress

In June, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) held its XVIIth International Congress in Hanoi, Vietnam, where a strong Japanese delegation  represented the Global Article 9 Campaign. In its Hanoi Declaration, the Congress reaffirmed its commitment to peace and explicitly "renewed its support for the Global Article 9 Campaign led by Japanese lawyers" and "urge[d] all lawyers and jurists to work for the implementation in every country of the Japanese Constitution's "No War" clause."

Read more about IADL's XVIIth International Congress here.

New Japanese Government
With the change in Japanese government in 2009, the Global Article 9 Campaign looks forward to more positive action from the coalition government led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPK) in 2010 to consolidate the values of the country's peace constitution, to be a more active supporter of global nuclear abolition, and to shift more state resources from defense spending to sustainable development.

The last months of 2009 have seen Prime Minister Hatoyama's administration launch cuts of wasteful defense spending and call for a budget that promotes more social services and measures to fight global warming. The Hatoyama government also plans to end in January the state's Indian Ocean refueling missions to support the US-led forces to Afghanistan and has, instead, proposed new and increased civilian aid to Afghanistan without the use of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. The new administration has also planned a review in 2010 to move, or possibly remove from Japan altogether, the US military Futenma Air Force Base in Okinawa. In addition, Hatoyama has increasingly voiced his support for a future nuclear-free world.

In 2010, the Global Article 9 Campaign will continue its advocacy efforts to the Japanese government towards realizing its vision for a future free of nuclear weapons and for a global peace and stability that do not rely on force.

2010 NPT Review
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference will be held May 3-28, 2010, in New York City. The NPT is international law, and the only binding commitment to nuclear disarmament in a multilateral treaty. In 1970 the original five nuclear weapons countries (China, France, the UK, US, and USSR) ratified it, and since then 189 countries have become party to the treaty. However, four nuclear countries (India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea) refuse to become party to this treaty.

The NPT Review Conference gathers member states every five years to discuss ideas and implement concrete steps to realize the treaty's goals of disarmament of the world's nuclear weapons. The conferences held in 1995 and 2000 led to important measures to strengthen the treaty by extending it indefinitely and outlining concrete action plans promised to be taken by state parties to the treaty to work towards disarmament. Unfortunately, the 2005 conference did not produce a final agreement on actions for disarmament.

The 2010 NPT Review Conference comes amid recent support from world leaders on the importance of working towards nuclear disarmament. The recent developments have raised expectations for a meaningful and productive 2010 NPT Review Conference.

The Global Article 9 Campaign will continue to work with civil society partners and NGOs around the world to press states to ensure that governments meet these expectations and that the conference produces agreement and concrete action plans towards getting to zero nuclear weapons in the world.

Launched in Japan in 2005 by Peace Boat and the Japan Lawyers' International Solidarity Association (JALISA), the Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War has garnered the support of well over 60 Japan-based civil society organizations, including peace, religious and women groups, academic and medical institutions, legal associations and unions.

At the global level, a strong international network of individuals and NGOs has formed in support of the campaign, notably from Nobel Peace Prize laureates, as well as international groups such as the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), CodePink, and International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases and other forms of Foreign Military Presence (NO BASES!)

How can YOU get involved and support the Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War more in the new year?

The following are some ways you can act:

• Send a message of support for Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and/or for the Global Article 9 Campaign here.

• Keep yourself informed by visiting the Global Article 9 Campaign's website regularly for updates about our activities.

• Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter to follow what we and our partners are doing and learn about related developments.

• Join the Global Article 9 Campaign on Facebook.

• Write letters to your local newspapers about Article 9, the Campaign and other related issues.

• Lobby your government to include a peace clause in your country's constitution or to enforce it if it already has one.

• Keep a watch on your country's policies and actions, and demand that your government spend less on the military and more on education, health and sustainable social development.
  

• Find out what international events and local grassroots actions are taking place and join peacemakers around the world in advocating for nuclear weapons abolition, disarmament for development, social justice for all, human security and a global peace that does not rely on force.

• If you do not live near a place that already has a group taking action on this issue, start your own.