ifda dossier 74 - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

ifda dossier 74 . novet~~bcr/dccembcr i980 news from the third system
Citizens' associations support NAM initiative
for a UN Decade of International Law
At their meeting held in Nicosia in Septcm-
her 1088. the Ministers of Foreign Affairs
of tlic Movement of Non-aligned Countries
(NAM) resohcd to hold an Extraordinary
h1inistcri;il meeting of the Movement on
Peacc uftd /lie Rule of Lan' it! In/t,rt~u/~onal
fltiirs to corninemorate tlic 00th Anniver-
s:iy of the first Peace Conference held ;it
1.11~ H:I~~IC in 1309.
1'he initi;itiv'c \\;is conceived around tlie
nine ot [lie NAM liead-01-govcrnnient
meeting in 1I;irare in Septeniber 1986. In
prep;imlion for the (\'prus niceling in
September 1988 a number of foreign ministers
met and agreed to propose that the
Cyprus meeting depart from tradition by
focussing on a theme. The suggested topic
\v;is the l'rtiici.'lHin of Small States Through
inicniiiiitiiiul L,w. 'l'lie idc;i did not receive
~~~fii~~ciit s~i~iport, 'Ilic meeting in Nicosia
w;is eornluctcil in tlic tr:iditional fashion
but proponents of inlern:ilional l;iw succecdcd
in gclting ;I 1~rieS dcclaratior~ on Peace
and flic Rule of l.aw in It~tcr~iurkmal Affairs
ii~cl~iiled in the I'iniil report, and in getting
~grceniciit to hold ;in tixtraordinriry Ministeri;il
h~lectin~in 'I'lic I Iiigue.
Howeicr. rcsist;incc ivithin NAM to the
speciiil meeting and its v:ilu;iting intern;i-
tional l;iw ohjcctives c:iused delays and
compromises in tlic planning.
In April, the Work! Association for World
f-'edenition (WAWF) decided. in spite of
the contiiiui~~~incer'I;ii~~tics ;in(! late d;ite.
to do whatever possible in the lime remaining
to alert the conimunity of Citizens'
associiitions to the NAM initiative. and to
f, .icil~tate . . their presence in The IIaguc h!
orgarii/ing and "NGO forum". WAWF sent
letters to hundreds of associations alerting
them of the NAM meeting, its mon~entous
objectives, the planned activities and invited
their support and participation.
More thiin SO associations - including If-'DA
- coii1munic;ited their support for the ohjec-
lives of the meeting. The letters of support
were copied. compiled and presented to
each gnoernmcntal delegation before their
Opening Session.
A forum of rcprescnt:itives from more than
40 associations took phicc on 27 June 1989.
It was organized as a parallel meeting to
the NAM Ministerial niceling. The purpose
of tlie forum w;is to consider how the
associative con~munity could support the
NAM initiative to strcngllien internationiil
l;iw and the International Court of Justice.
File p;irticip;iting associations, v^liich mct iil
the Institute of Sociiil Studies. represented
Â¥ diverse spectrum of interests and included
peace, judicial. cnvironn~ent.'il. human rights.
women, United Nations associations, reli-
gious. development and other groups.
A WAWF representative was invited by
NAM to report to the ministerial meeting
on tlie Forum. A brief st;itemcnt was made
to the meeting and a summary record on
[lie forum was prepared and submitted to
NAM. '1'tii.s report is available froni WAWI:
on rcqucst.
l'lie opening ecremony included stiitcments
trom President Mug;ihe of Zimbaliv\e.
current cliair of NAM: /.inib