News – Page 3 – Middle East Treaty Organization

METO in New York

The USA is not an easy place to enter at the last minute if you’re a Middle Easterner. You can’t just decide one day that you’re going to go. There are interviews to go through, paperwork to submit, and waiting to be done. So when METO decided that it would be really useful to have someone in New York during the November Conference [the annual conference at the UN convened for states of the region to negotiate a treaty to eliminate weapons of mass destruction] despite the UN not allowing civil society representatives in the building, and when the funding opportunity appeared, we sent Tony Robinson, our operations director.

UN Conference on a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East

On Tuesday, 23rd of November, Atomic Reporters, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, the International Physicians for the prevention of Nuclear War, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in New York and METO, hosted an online panel discussion on the upcoming second session of the November Conference at the UN on the subject of the Middle East WMD free zone.

The Bright Side

The Bright Side is the newly launched good news bulletin curated by the METO University Network. It was born as a response to the overwhelming presence of bad news surrounding the Middle East and North Africa in the western mainstream media, partly contributing to a false representation, and the stereotyping of the region as one of conflict and suffering. We felt there was a need to portray “the Bright Side” of the region too: one where meaningful cooperation on issues on human rights, the environment or education and healthcare is increasingly present, and should be celebrated.

METO’s Summer Course on WMD Disarmament and Security in the Middle East

From August 10 to September 7, 2021, METO held its first summer course on WMD Disarmament and Security in the Middle East. The purpose of the course was: to familiarise participants with both the history of the issue and the current challenges in the field of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East and North Africa; to provide skills for analysing WMD proliferation issues; and to identify future scenarios to rid the region of all WMD.

A regional organization for a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East

On Wednesday, 27th of October, the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations and the Middle East Treaty Organization hosted a side event to the UN General Assembly First Committee meetings at which were presented key elements of the new Draft Treaty which has been produced this year after extensive rounds of meetings with experts and diplomats from across the region and beyond.

In The Zone – Episode 14 – Beatrice Fihn

In episode 14 of In The Zone, Anahita Parsa and Tony Robinson interview Beatrice Fihn. In this interview, recorded during the 2^nd World Peace Congress organised by the International Peace Bureau in Barcelona, Beatrice talks about the lessons learned in achieving the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the pros and cons of winning a Nobel Peace Prize, the future goals of the campaign, and her reflections on the links between racism, colonialism and nuclear weapons, among other things.

(Re) imagining our world at the World Peace Congress in Barcelona

October 15-17th marked the Second World Peace Congress by the International Peace Bureau, hosted in Barcelona, Spain. It saw a community of over 2,000 activists, campaigners and NGOs joining together (both in person and virtually), to engage in a series of discussions and events surrounding this year’s theme: ‘(Re) imagine Our World’- Action for Peace and Justice. METO was honoured to attend and take part, and especially to connect with other organisations and activists present. The event also offered the first opportunity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, for some of our team to meet and work together in person, which was incredibly special.

Media Briefing Presentations

On the 1st of September, METO together with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Atomic Reporters hosted a media briefing for journalists on the subject of Developments in the ME & the perspectives for WMD Disarmament.

Four speakers were invited to participate and give their views and we have recorded and edited them for you to view at your pleasure.

Media Briefing: Fact Sheet

METO in partnership with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Atomic Reporters have prepared a fact sheet to accompany the media briefing on Wednesday, 1st of September.

Please feel free to download it in pdf format here.

Below is the text and footnotes:

Media Briefing: Developments in the Middle East & the perspectives for WMD Disarmament – September 1

Despite the covid pandemic, the last 12 months have seen a flurry of activity in the Middle East in the field of regional security: The Abraham Accords, moves by the USA and Iran to return to compliance with the JCPOA, and elections in the USA, Iran and Israel, among many others.