Capital Cities Initiative: Open Letter in support of the Int’l Decade for Disarmament

Mayors of capital cities are signing an Open Letter addressed to the UN Disarmament Commission, which meets this April for two weeks in New York.  The Commission was been tasked by the UN General Assembly to draft a Declaration to the 2010-2020 International Decade for Disarmament.  Aside from encouraging the delegates to cooperate in this important task, the Open Letter requests that, among its various elements, the Declaration recognize the contribution cities can make to a successful Decade, particularly to a decisive decade for nuclear disarmament.  The Open Letter will be submitted to national and international newspaper for publication in early April.  (It is, therefore, not public yet.  It is available upon request on a confidential basis.)

As explained in the background piece to Mayor Akiba's letter on the Capital Cities Initiative (see also below), most western governments have doubts about the value of a special decade.  It is our hope that recent positive developments and the prospect of the engagement of cities will encourage them to set aside these doubts and become active supporters of the Decade.

Citizens can lend a hand with this initiative, which will bring added value to all their civil society activities in the coming decade.  A brief guide is provided below.

The Capital Cities Initiative is unfolding as follows:
All ready done:
1)    The President of Mayor for Peace, Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima, has written to the 87 mayors of capital cities which are members of Mayors for Peace asking them to sign the Open Letter.
2)    The International Director of the 2020 Vision Campaign, Aaron Tovish, has written to the Mayor’s Offices on coordination of the Initiative.
3)    Mayor Domenici of Florence has written to them as well, providing an inspiring historical perspective on the role of capital cities.  For the English translation of that letter click here.
Next steps:
4)    Early signers of the Open Letter will reach out to capital cities not yet members of Mayors for Peace inviting them to be part of the Initiative.
5)    Members in countries where the capital is not a member will write to the capital city mayor encouraging him/her to sign the Open Letter and join Mayors for Peace.
6)    Open Letter signers will be encourage to submit the Letter for publication in national newspapers in early April; and it will also be submitted to several international papers. 
7)    The UN Disarmament Commission will be directly lobbied to act in line with the Open Letter.
8)    Activities will be organized leading up to the October meeting of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly to promote broad international support for the draft Declaration of the Decade.
9)    The civil society launch of the Decade will occur in conjunction with the 2010 NPT Review Conference; mayors will play a leading role.
10)    Civil society and City Hall can work together to develop a program of activities for peace and disarmament during the Decade.

GUIDE: How civil society activists can assist the Capital Cities Initiative.

STEP ONE: Is the capital of your country a member of Mayors for Peace?  (See list.)
If so, write or call the mayor soon to encourage him/her to sign the Open Letter quickly so that he/she can be part of the outreach to non-member capitals.
If not, are there other cities which are members of Mayors for Peace in your country?
If so, be in touch with them about supporting the international outreach to your capital city mayor. 
If not, go directly to the capital city mayor and get him/her to sign and join.

STEP TWO:  Once your capital city mayor has signed the Open Letter (list in progress), encourage and assist the Mayor’s Office in approaching national newspapers about publishing the Open Letter in early April.  And meet with Foreign Ministry officials about your governments support for the Disarmament Decade.  See in the background piece how your country voted in 2006 on the UNGA resolution that began preparations for the Decade.
STEP THREE: Stay on top of this issue until the Decade has been properly launched and cooperate with City Hall in developing programs for the Decade.  The 2020 Vision Campaign will be providing suggestions for activities all along.