The Fund for Peace Partners with NATO Fri Dec 13, 2002 WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Fund for Peace (FfP) is the first NGO invited to participate in a NATO (news - web sites) team of experts working for demilitarization. The team was convened to assess the feasibility of destroying 1.5 million small arms and light weapons and 133,000 tons of munitions in Ukraine. FfP Vice President Anne C. Bader and Marketing Director Krista Hendry completed the initial mission in late November, during which time they toured various sites as part of the NATO Ad Hoc Steering Committee of the Partnership for Peace Trust Fund. The trip launched a feasibility study on the first phase of a 10-15 year project described by an expert from NAMSA, the NATO organization in charge of the technical aspects of such projects, as "the largest weapons destruction project ever anticipated." Greece is the leading donor country, with Turkey and Germany also contributing. "NATO leadership in small arms and landmine destruction underscores the value of the alliance's role in security sector and defense reform, confirmed at the Prague Summit," said Dr. Pauline H. Baker, president of The Fund for Peace. According to a University of Geneva study, there are approximately 639 million small arms worldwide. Recognizing the strong link between illegal arms dealers and instability, The Fund for Peace drafted a model U.N. convention on small arms brokering, conducted research on small arms pipelines in Africa and Latin America, and investigated arms brokers who facilitate illicit trafficking. "NATO told us that the FfP was selected to join this project," stated Bader, "because of our broad vision, credibility, practical approach and extensive experience in working with diverse groups." On this project, the FfP is collaborating with the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies (The Razumkov Centre), based in Kyiv, to create a communications strategy and action plan with four main objectives: -- Raise awareness and understanding of NATO's leadership role mandated in its security sector reform agenda recently announced at the Prague summit; -- Promote transparency, establish economic incentives, strengthen Ukrainian civil society and insure the safety of civilians and the environment; -- Reinforce Ukrainian policies on demilitarization, which has included giving up its nuclear weapons, a NATO PfP landmine destruction project launched in July 2001, as well as this new program; and -- Create a model that includes economic incentives that will encourage other countries in the region to undertake defense reform and defense conversion. This partnership between the NGO community and a multinational organization, such as NATO, also sets an example for greater collaboration between the two sectors and benefits broader strategies on global security such as the threat of weapons proliferation. Note to Editors: Anne C. Bader is vice president of the Fund for Peace. Bader has been a development professional, journalist and international consultant in North America, Europe and the former Soviet Union for more than 25 years. Krista R. Hendry is director of marketing at The Fund for Peace. She has been working in Marketing and Communications internationally since 1997, during which time she also earned her MBA from Georgetown University. Further information about FfP or this project can be found on the following websites: www.fundforpeace.org, http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2002/11-november/e1129c.htm, and http://www.namsa.nato.int.