Updates

With UNRCPD’s support, Nepal is implementing a new model of delivering Peace and Disarmament Education to meet post-conflict challenges. UNRCPD has created a video to illustrate the start of a journey of Peace and Disarmament education which will initially reach 300,000 Nepali schoolchildren. By addressing the roots of interpersonal violence and reducing the demand for arms, the project will help strengthen the fragile peace that the people of Nepal have worked tirelessly to achieve. International Day of Peace will be celebrated across the world on 21 September, with a special…

For the second year, UNRCPD engaged Nepali schoolchildren on the subject of peace and challenged them to reflect on what it means to them in their lives. The 2013 Children’s Art Competition, with a theme of ‘Peace for Everyone’, took place at 12 Kathmandu Valley schools this summer.

The schools invited UNRCPD into their grade 5-8 classrooms to lead thought exercises on peace and conflict. The children were then asked to think about how peace is important for them, their families and communities. The results were 900 colourful and creative expressions of their ideas through…

UNRCPD facilitated a regional meeting on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in advance of the Final UN Conference on the ATT, held in New York City from 8-28 March 2013. The regional meeting took place in Kuala Lumpur on 26-27 February 2013 and was hosted by the Government of Malaysia.

The purpose of the two-day meeting was to create a forum for regional dialogue and to share views in advance of the upcoming negotiations. The meeting was an opportunity for senior officials involved in the negotiations to come together to exchange ideas and discuss issues of concern with their…

The 24th United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues took place in Shizuoka City, Japan, from 30 January to 1 February 2013. This annual event was organised by UNRCPD, the regional branch of UNODA, and in co-operation with the Government of Japan and the host city of Shizuoka.

The purpose of the Conference is to provide an informal setting for frank and open discussion on critical issues related to disarmament and security. With the overarching theme of “Creating a Peaceful and Safe Future: Pressing Issues and Potential Solutions”, the Conference…

UNRCPD, together with the Government of Thailand, organised a workshop from 11 to 13 December 2012 in Bangkok on implementing the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). The focus of the three-day workshop was to assist national agencies and experts involved in small arms and light weapons to implement the provisions of the PoA at the national level. The workshop was sponsored by the Government of Germany.

Read the Summary Report from the UNRCPD Workshop…

In cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Korea, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD), organized the 11th Republic of Korea-United Nations Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues, on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, from 2 to 4 December 2012.

In 2012, the  theme of the Conference was “Disarmament and Arms Trade Control in Asia and Beyond −…

First introduced in 2009 on the margins of the annual UN Conference on Disarmament Issues in Japan, this successful peace and disarmament education initiative has continued annually since. The 2012 event in Saitama consisted of presentations by students from six high schools, followed by an exchange of views on their proposals, including their thoughts on the United Nations, overseen by a panel of representatives from the MoFA Japan, UNODA, Saitama City Board of Education and UNRCPD. The event serves as an excellent example of promoting peace and disarmament education while also…

“Children and Peace” was the theme of the 2012 Art Competition for young people, took place from 15 July to 31 August 2012, in Kathmandu, Nepal, organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD).

The main objective of this art competition was to promote peace and disarmament education for schoolchildren, increase awareness and better understanding of peace and disarmament issues at the individual, local and international levels, and have the children reflect on their role in a peaceful society through drawing.…

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs organised a meeting to promote the implementation of the UN Programme of Action (PoA) for Asian countries in Bali, Indonesia, on 5-6 March 2012. The meeting, jointly organised by the UNODA and the Government of Indonesia, brought together states from the Asian region to review and advance implementation of the Programme of Action at the regional level, and to contribute to the broader consultation process of the second United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made so far in the Implementation of the PoA, to be held in August 2012…

The Tenth United Nations-Republic of Korea Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues took place in Jeju, Republic of Korea, on 7 and 8 November 2011. The event was organized jointly by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific and the Government of the Republic of Korea.

The annual Conference has been jointly organised by the United Nations and the Republic of Korea since 2002. Known as the “Jeju Process”, it is well-known for providing an informal setting for frank and…

UNRCPD organised a five-day national training course in Kathmandu in September 2011 on combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. A total of 25 mid-level law enforcement officers from the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and Customs of Nepal participated in the training aimed at enhancing the capacity of law enforcement officers in key issues related to combating the illicit trade in small arms. The course was conducted by both international and national trainers, including instructors from the OSCE, the World Customs Organization and INTERPOL. The various…

All over the world, and especially in Nepal with its prolonged peace process, peace building requires public support for peace, and youth have a significant role to play. Peace and disarmament education is an essential instrument in promoting a culture of non-violence and conflict prevention in the minds of young people. With this in mind, UNRCPD and its partners organised an outreach project in the Kathmandu Valley throughout autumn 2011. The scheme included educating volunteer youth trainers, conducting workshops at six public schools in Kathmandu, as well as organising short story…

In the effort to endorse the role of civil society and enhance cooperation between local governments and the United Nations in promoting disarmament and non-proliferation education, 40 Japanese high school students came together in Saitama, Japan, to exchange views on concrete steps to achieving disarmament goals. Students presented and discussed their proposals with a panel consisting of senior representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and non-governmental organizations. Also UNRCPD Director Mr. Taijiro Kimura was in the panel and had the opportunity to provide the…

UNRCPD, together with members of the Nepal Working Group on Small Arms and Other Portable Lethal Weapons, organized outreach activities in Kathmandu in June2011 to promote the “Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence”, initiated by the International Action Network on Small Arms. The activities included an awareness-raising and capacity-building workshop on combating gun violence in Nepal. The workshop was attended by parliamentarians, political leaders and the media. It featured testimonies from the survivors of gun violence, the United Nations Programme of Action on small arms…

In cooperation with the Government of Nepal, UNDP, and the secretariat of the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, UNRCPD organised the ‘Regional Best and Promising Practices seminar on Armed Violence Reduction and Prevention for South and Southeast Asia’ in Kathmandu. Representatives of 17 States from South and Southeast Asia, as well as various civil society organisations, participated in the seminar to examine specific topics related to armed violence, including youth, gender and urban and rural violence. The aim of the seminar was also to provide an opportunity…

The media plays an important role connecting government to people, as well as raising awareness about disarmament issues. With the goal of strengthening the regional media’s capacity to report on complex international disarmament-related issues, the UNRCPD invited international experts to give presentations on major disarmament and non-proliferation themes to 50 media representatives. Coming from 11 East and Southeast Asian countries, the workshop allowed participants to discuss various disarmament and arms control-related topics and initiatives, such as steps towards a nuclear-…