UNRCPD successfully concluded a coaching programme on gender-mainstreaming small arms control. The coaching was an initiative from both UNODA and UNDP-SEESAC and was conducted for UNRCPD personnel in Kathmandu, Nepal over the period of March-April 2020.
UNRCPD has published it’s Compendium on the “Gun Violence and Illicit SALW-Control from a Gender Perspective” Project, which ran over a period covering 2018-2020 involving the participation of numerous Government Officials, Members of Parliament and members of Civil Society Organizations from 17 states in Asia-Pacific, culminating in a final concluding seminar that was hosted in Kathmandu, Nepal in February 2020. This Project was made possible due to financial contribution from the European Union and the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulations (UNSCAR).
From March to October 2019, UNRCPD conducted a Baseline Assessment for Disarmament Education in 9 countries which will guide future activities for disarmament education in the Asia-Pacific region. Now the Executive Summary of those findings have been published and made available online for public viewing. This Project was made possible by financial support from Rissho Kosei-Kai.
On 27 September 2019, the Republic of Maldives acceded to the Arms Trade Treaty, thus becoming the ATT’s 105th State Party.
The treaty will enter into force in the Maldives on 26 December 2019. Maldives is the ninth State of the Asian-Pacific region to become party to the Arms Trade Treaty.
On 26 September 2019, four Asian States ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in a ceremony on the occasion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Bangladesh, Kiribati and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have ratified the Treaty, and the Maldives both signed and ratified it. This increases the number of Asian States party to the TPNW from 7 to 11. More than half of the Asian States party to the TPNW (6) ratified it in 2019.
On 26th September 2018, Myanmar signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming one of the newest countries in the Asia-Pacific region to sign the treaty.
On 26th September 2018, Brunei Darussalam signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming one of the newest countries along with Myanmar and Timor-Leste in the Asia-Pacific region to sign the treaty.
On 26th September 2018, Timor-Leste signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming one of the newest countries along with Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam in the Asia-Pacific region to sign the treaty.
On 26th September 2018, Samoa ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming one of the newest countries along with Vanuatu in the Asia-Pacific region to ratify the treaty.
On 26th September 2018, Vanuatu signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming one of the newest countries along with Samoa in the Asia-Pacific region to ratify the treaty.
On 4 September 2018, the Cook Islands officially accedes to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming the 15th State Party to the treaty.
On 11 June 2018, Turkmenistan submitted its National Implementation Action Plan (NIAP) of Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) to the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004). The NIAP, that will cover the 2018-2022 period, includes priority measures of the Government of Turkmenistan to implement key provisions of the resolution. The plan was developed in the framework of the UNODA – OSCE project on Support of the Regional Implementation of Resolution 1540 (2004) in Central Asia and Mongolia jointly implemented by UNRCPD and the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre with the assistance of the 1540 Committee Group of Experts. In June 2017 and January 2018, UNRCPD and the OSCE organized two national roundtable meetings in Turkmenistan aimed to facilitate the development of the NIAP. Turkmenistan became the 31st Member State in the world and fourth in the Asia-Pacific region, together with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, that prepared on a voluntary basis its NIAP as encouraged by Security Council Resolution 2325 (2016). UNRCPD congratulates the Government of Turkmenistan for its contribution to the international efforts on preventing the proliferation of WMD.
The Joint Secretary and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Mr. Bharat Raj Paudyal, visited UNRCPD’s office in Kathmandu on 12 June 2018. Mr. Paudyal met with UNRCPD staff to discuss disarmament and arms control in Nepal, and was provided with detailed explanations of ongoing and future projects, with particular focus on the reduction of gun violence from gender perspective, supporting the implementation of UNSCR 1540 (2004), technical and legal assistance to control SALW, and training on the International Ammunition Technical Guidance (IATG). Linked picture, Mr. Bharat Raj Paudyal and Mr. Yuriy Kryvonos, Director of UNRCPD, discuss about best means for implementing these and other projects in Nepal.
GENEVA (24 May 2018) Secretary General António Guterres launched the United Nations’ new disarmament agenda, entitled “Securing Our Common Future”, at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. The new agenda puts focus on three priorities: disarmament to save humanity; Disarmament that saves lives; and Disarmament for future generations.
