Continuing the conversation around the campaign for a fourth Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD-IV), SCRAP Weapons and Pax Christi organized a civil society consultation to commemorate the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS 2024) and to reinvigorate discussions on the urgent need for states to consider disarmament and divestment and the potential role of civil society in realizing these goals. The overwhelming support for the open letter put forth by SCRAP and the inclusion of a recommendation in the New Agenda for Peace corroborated its importance as an all-encompassing effort at peace and a tool to reform the disarmament machinery. Civil society organisations discussed the need for states to move beyond tired language and rhetorical statements without any concrete plan of action, calling out UN Member States adopting the annual placeholder resolution recognizing the desirability to hold a full special session without any intention of setting a date. 

SCRAP Weapons shared its past work aimed at urging support for an amendment to the resolution that would initiate, by 2025, a committee to oversee preparations for the next special session on disarmament as an ideal forum, to advance a strong agenda to reduce and eliminate weapons as well as be an alternative to current disarmament framework. Following the call by Brazil to initiate a process of informal consultations on the convening of the preparatory Committee of SSOD-IV at the 2022 First Committee, Italy, Bangladesh, South Africa, the Arab group, and Mexico, among other states, have echoed the need for a more concrete timeline at the 2023 First Committee. To build on this, they have been working to develop a civil society coalition around commencing preparations for a full special session given the inability of the traditional apparatus to address the current geopolitical scenario due to a lack of consensus, political will, and equitable representation of all stakeholders. SCRAP also wishes to accomplish a sort of global working group—a constituency that they like to call an “Impact Coalition” that can support the champion States in their vision to convene the special session.

Reflecting on the momentousness of an alternative forum to revitalize the current debate, SSOD as a mechanism of the General Assembly would not need to operate under the rule of consensus. The issue of representation will also be dealt with as it would not be limited to a single agenda and rather would be a forum to merge contemporary concerns, including cyber, AI, outer space, gender, and the environment.

Following the introductory remarks, statements of solidarity were delivered by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Interparliamentary Union, CAFOD, Methodist Church, Women Volunteers for Peace, and Christian CND, who sharing their experience across agencies, talked about peace as not just opposing war. The group then presented their answers to the questions—where might convening an SSOD-IV sit as a priority within their organization, how do they see the call for a special session in light of recent events, and what are the next steps as a group? They discussed strategies for structuring their campaigns around the UN institutional timetable, the need for specialist knowledge of disarmament bodies, and simplifying the technicalities of the SSOD-IV for the general public and non-expert audience to garner greater support.