Similar to the convening of the first part of the Conference on Disarmament from January 23 to March 31, 2023, Maat Foundation submitted a petition to amend Article Twelve of the rules of procedure of the Conference on Disarmament, and that petition was submitted to several international bodies for signature, and it was also submitted to the Conference on Disarmament Disarmament for discussion.
The petition shed light on the serious threat posed by all types of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons, to the future of all mankind. The conference agenda in an optimal manner in order to reach a better final document at the end of the conference, present activities and side events during the days of the conference, and make many recommendations to the countries and the conference presidency to make the conference more influential, and to implement the ultimate goal and the ideal goal of the conference’s existence, which is to reach a world free of weapons.
Therefore, Maat presented basic recommendations in that petition, which are; Amending Article 12 of the conference's bylaws, because it is vague about the participation of civil society organizations in the conference's activities. Also, allowing that organization to participate in the activities within the conference, whether through oral or written intervention, or in preparing workshops. It was made clear that this would have a positive impact on the success of the conference and that the organizations would act as a link between countries and the presidency of the conference and assist countries in preparing their annual reports on disarmament in their countries.
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Maat participated in an oral intervention on the second day of the activities of the third substantive session of the Open-ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition (OEWG), corresponding to February 14, in an informal session of international, regional and non-governmental organizations, in which Maat expressed its grave concern about the failure to secure stocks of surplus conventional ammunition It also clarified that these surpluses of conventional ammunition must be insured in order to avoid the risk of explosion, contamination, diversion, or causing their explosion and thus causing deaths, injuries, and the destruction of private property and public infrastructure.
Maat also recommended that there be international legislation obligating countries to disclose the amount of surplus stocks of conventional ammunition so that there are correct measures to dispose of them in safe ways, and that there be an obligation for countries to submit quarterly reports to the Open Working Group on Conventional Ammunition explaining the insurance methods used. For surplus ammunition stores in the country.
It is worth noting that the Maat Foundation is the only Arab organization participating in the work of the third substantive session of the Open-ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition from 13-17 February 2023
Maat participated in the Working Group meeting and the first informal preparatory meeting for the Ninth Conference of the States Parties, in person at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, with three oral interventions,
where it made an intervention within the framework of the effective implementation of Articles 6 and 7 (concerned with prohibited acts, export, and export assessments), an oral intervention also within the framework of Article 9 (concerned with transit and promising shipment), and an intervention on the effective implementation of Article 11 (concerned with diversion), all under the framework of the working group concerned with the effective implementation of the treaty, as a continuation of its course Since the Seventh Conference of the States Parties, through the preparatory meetings for the Eighth Conference, and the Eighth Conference as well.
Maat’s first intervention was within the framework of the effective implementation of Articles 6 and 7 (concerning prohibited acts, export, and export assessments). Export controls to prevent the diversion of arms to illegal users, in areas of armed conflict as well as to uphold human rights and international law.
Maat’s second intervention was within the framework of the effective implementation of Article 9 (concerned with transit and promising shipment), where Maat made an oral intervention on “responsibility in international transfers of conventional weapons”, and Maat raised a point on how to review legal texts to address illegal transfers, whether from countries or private companies.
The last intervention of Maat in the work of the Working Group meeting and the first informal preparatory meeting for the Ninth Conference of the States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty, with an oral intervention on “international cooperation regarding the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty Agreement, within the framework of the effective implementation of Article 11 (concerned with diversion), and stressed the need International cooperation between countries exporting and importing weapons to address the diversion of weapons, and indicated that the factors that helped fuel the conflicts in Syria and Iraq is the diversion of those weapons and their arrival in the hands of terrorist groups, and recommended the need to work on monitoring the mechanism of diversion of weapons in the national legislation of the country.
Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights will also personally participate in the meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, which will be held from 6 to 10 March 2023, at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, as a continuation of its participation in the first and second sessions of the team for the year 2022. We will also send our analysis of the team's work in our March special newsletter
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