SGI Participation in UN First Committee and Related Activities
The 74th session of the UN General Assembly First Committee took place from October 7 to November 8. Hayley Ramsay-Jones and Anna Ikeda from the SGI Office for UN Affairs attended the session. They actively supported the activities of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, both of which SGI is a member of. As part of the campaigns the SGI representatives encouraged and supported UN Member States to strengthen their disarmament positions by signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and calling for a prohibition treaty on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Hayley took part in the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots’ action activities around New York, where campaigners spoke to members of the public about killer robots. This action activity features in a short promotional video Campaigners in New York and features on the campaign’s website and social media platforms. In addition, Hayley attended the Humanitarian Disarmament Forum (HDF), which was held on 19–20 October at the Church Center for the UN, convened by Campana Colombiana, and co-sponsored by SGI, Humanity Inclusion, Human Rights Watch and PAX. Due to her work in the area of intersectionality, Hayley was invited to attend the Disability Rights Advocates Gala, held in New York on 21 October. She was asked to promote the humanitarian disarmament perspective at the Gala and represent the different disarmament campaigns present at the HDF, connecting disability issues to disarmament. Anna focused on bilateral discussions with delegates attending the First Committee and promoted resolutions L.12 “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” and L.13 “Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons,” which ICAN supported. Both resolutions passed, and some new co-sponsors were added this year, including some from the Caribbean community.
