UNIDIR and the International Law and Policy Institute publishes five new briefing papers that analyse aspects of the upcoming 2015 NPT Review Conference
UNIDIR and the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) have produced five new briefing papers that analyse aspects of the upcoming 2015 NPT Review Conference, and the initiative on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.Secretary-General’s message on 100th Anniversary of First Use of Chemical Weapons
Secretary-General's message to event organised by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the First Use of Chemical Weapons [Delivered by Ms. Virginia Gamba, Deputy to the High Representative for DisarmamentDeclaration on the Occasion of the Centennial Commemoration of the First Large-Scale Use of Chemical Weapons at Ieper
The States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention met at Ieper, Belgium, on 21 April 2015 to mark the occasion of the Centennial Commemoration of the first large-scale use of chemical weapons at Ieper, and honoured the memory of and paid tribute to all victims of chemical weapons.Disarmament Commission: India: Wants meaningful dialogue among nations possessing Nuclear Weapons to build trust
India has suggested a "meaningful dialogue" among all nations possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and to reduce the salience of atomic weapons in security doctrines. Ambassador DB Venkatesh Varma yesterday said India has supported the proposal put forward by the Non-Aligned MovementAdopting Work Programme, Disarmament Commission Begins General Debate on Nuclear, Conventional Weapons, Affirming Polarity of Positions, Benefits to Bridging Them
The United Nations Disarmament Commission’s significance as a platform for dialogue and cooperation had only been heightened in light of current rising global tensions and mistrust, the 193-member subsidiary body heard today during its general debate, moving into the second day of its 2015 session. With a view to advancing discussions despite its 15-year impasse on adopting concrete guidelines, the Disarmament Commission succeeded today, after two days of intense negotiations, in approving a provisional agenda for the current three-year cycle. It thereby agreed to include items on recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and on practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional weapons.Biological Weapons Convention: High Representative’s video message to 40th anniversary event
Angela Kane, the UNODA High Representative for Disarmament Affairs is giving a short speech to commemorate the 40th anniversary oft the entry into force of the Biological Weapons Convention2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference Website launched in multiple UN official languages
The UN has launched a new website for the 2015 NPT Review Conference. For updates, information and resources related to the conference view the website hereConference on Disarmament: High-level week in the CD
From 2-9 March the Conference on Disarmament (CD) held its annual high-level segment, during which dignitaries from the Russian Federation, Algeria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Argentina, Ukraine, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Turkey, Democratic People’s Republic (DPRK), Germany, Austria, Spain, United Kingdom, Cuba, Japan, Georgia, Myanmar, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Costa Rica, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Ireland, Italy, Chile, Mongolia, Iraq, Colombia, and Finland addressed the conference. The President of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, Ambassador Bertrand De Crombrugghe of Belgium, addressed the CD to mark the sixteenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention.International Peace Bureau: IPB Nominates Hibakusha for 2015 Nobel Peace Prize
A total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons was the task set out by the very first resolution of the first General Assembly of the United Nations (January 1946), a task that remains unfulfilled. Yet, as seen in the success of the international conferences on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, held in Oslo in 2013 and in Nayarit and Vienna in 2014, momentum is building up once more, and promises to turn this 70th anniversary of the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki into a milestone on the path to a world free of nuclear weapons.Workshop held to strengthen Peace and Disarmament Education in Nepal’s schools
Twenty five newly selected text book writers were invited by the Curriculum Development Center (CDC) to a 3-day Peace and Disarmament Education workshop supported by UNRCPD and UNESCO Nepal.Can Japan jumpstart action on nuclear disarmament?
Nuclear weapons continue to pose global dangers. Their elimination is a global enterprise that requires renewed leadership, dialogue, and action on the part of all the world's nations. Unfortunately, 70 years after the attacks on Hiroshima and NagasakiVolunteering for disarmement process in Africa: From our sister Centre in Togo
Based in Togo, I have been an International United Nations at the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) for the past 2 and a half years.Through my position, I have been able to conduct an assessment of the national small arms control authority of the Sudan, oversaw a trainings of trainers for the Togolese security services on maintaining law and order during electoral periods, facilitated the training of ammunition technical specialists on ammunition support to UN field operations, assisted in the organization and facilitation of numerous subregional and regional events notably on the Arms Trade Treaty and International Tracing Instrument, and took part in numerous workshops and seminars concerning monitoring and enforcing United Nations arms embargos and methods of streamlining United Nations arms control operations. So far, my time at the Regional Centre has been rewarding. Working in a highly sensitive sector such as disarmament and arms control means I have the opportunity to work with very motivated professionals in many countries; these individuals are trying to address ever growing arms race and proliferation and its adverse outcomes.