Want to become an awesome diplomat?

Sign up for IKV Pax Christi’s Crash Course on Nuclear Diplomacy and you might be going to the NPT PrepCom meeting in Vienna!

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) requires that review conferences be held every five years. For this reason, all 189 countries that signed the NPT come together every five years to evaluate the observance of the treaty and discuss how this can be improved. The main questions are: Which states have nuclear weapons, who is secretly developing these weapons, how can we prevent more nuclear weapon(states) in the world and how can we eventually get rid of nuclear weapons?

The PrepCom
Every year the Prepatory Committee (PrepCom) is preparing for the major review conference (Review Committee). Though the PrepCom is basically the same, it focuses on one part of the NPT. From April 30 to May 11, 2012, the PrepCom will focus on peaceful uses of nuclear technology. All NPT members have access to nuclear technology, but it is prohibited to use this to build nuclear weapons. Uranium enrichment is allowed, but how can we ensure that this is not done to  the percentage required to build nuclear weapons?

At the end of February IKV Pax Christi will select a group of students and give them the opportunity to join the Dutch delegation at the PrepCom in Vienna. Participants go to the conference at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, www.iaea.org), participate at the NGO program set up by IKV Pax Christi and other NGOs, speak to Dutch politicians and interview diplomats. In short, this is a great opportunity to take a look behind the scenes and to develop your diplomatic skills!

Preparation
We expect that the selected group of students will invest +/- 40 hours in the run-up for the PrepCom by following the four workshops organized by IKV Pax Christi, reading and (preparing) publications. We will ask the students to prepare one or more case-studies before and after the PrepCom. During the PrepCom the students will be involved in NGO events and will post blogs to keep the Dutch public up to date. All costs for the workshops, traveling and accommodations will be covered by IKV Pax Christi. Workshops are given in corporation with University Leiden (www.leidenuniv.nl), Clingendael (www.clingendael.nl) and the Nuclear Reseach and Consultancy Group (Petten, the Netherlands, www.nrg.eu). Speakers that are invited are Sico van der Meer (Clingendael), dr. Niels van Willigen (University Leiden) and Susi Snyder (IKV Pax Christi). For latest news on the workshops, please click here.

After the PrepCom…
Back in the Netherlands we will give the students the opportunity to organize a follow-up activity together wit Pax-It, the youth organization of IKV Pax Christi, such as a Pax-It café on nuclear disarmament within your own faculty, student or study association.

Application and selection process
- We are looking for (university) students with an interest in diplomacy and nuclear weapons
- You are available for the 4 workshops in March/April 2012. From 30 April to 11 May 2012 the PrepCom in Vienna will take place: you will be in Vienna in the first week
- You are willing to invest time before and after the PrepCom in writing and organizing a follow-up activity together with Pax-It
- Interested? Please send your motivation and CV to Selma van Oostwaard (mail: vanoostwaard@ikvpaxchristi.nl). Deadline: Wednesday 22 February 2012.

Questions?
For further question or more information, please contact Selma van Oostwaard (mail: vanoostwaard@ikvpaxchristi.nl or telephone: +31 (0)30 233 33 46).

 

Tags: NPT, crash course, nuclear diplomacy

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