CPAFFC Delegation Attends 62nd UN DPI/NGO Annual Conference

The 62nd UN DPI/NGO Annual Conference was convened in Mexico City， capital of Mexico from September 9 to 11. The CPAFFC sent a delegation to attend the conference.

More than 1，400 NGO representatives from over 70 countries took part in the conference themed “For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!”. UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon， UN Under Secretary General Kiyo Akasaka， Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano and Chairman Charles Hitchcock of the 62nd annual conference made speeches. Four roundtable panel discussions on “Zero Nuclear Weapons， Zero Weapons of Mass Destruction: Why， How， When?”， “Removing the Tools of Armed Violence”， “Human Development is Global Security” and “New Challenges and Perspectives for Global Development and Security for the 21st Century”; 24 workshops and several exhibitions were held during the conference. The participants had in-depth discussions on the topics such as nuclear disarmament， prevention of proliferation of small arms and light weapons， meeting new challenges confronted by humanity， model for peace and development， and participation of NGOs， etc. At the closing ceremony， the conference declaration: “Disarming for Peace and Development” was adopted. It calls for abandoning nuclear weapons and preventing the destruction of world civilization， and urges governments of all countries to take action to achieve the ultimate goal of a nuclear free world.

The CPAFFC representatives attended two workshops—“A New Model for Peace and Development” and “Global Development and World Security as a Consequence of a Review of the UN Charter (Art. 109)” sponsored by the Mexican Centre for Economic and Social Studies of the Third World. At the workshops， Jorge Nuno， director general of the Centre， spoke highly of China’s development model， saying that instead of following the West’s development model， China has blazed a new way suitable to its own national conditions and scored brilliant achievements. China’s experience is worth learning by other countries， especially the developing countries. At a working meeting between the CPAFFC delegation and representatives of the Centre， they discussed the promotion of youth exchanges， joint sponsoring seminars， etc.