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Panel Discussion Highlights How Resolution 1540 Builds Knowledge and Capacity
In a dynamic effort to strengthen global security through education and collaboration, experts and officials gathered in Vienna to spotlight the transformative role of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540. On 28 November, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), and the Permanent Mission of Türkiye to the United Nations in Vienna co-organized a panel discussion to explore the educational and capacity-building impact of resolution 1540. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Levent Eler, Permanent…
From Erlangen to Munich: Advancing Academia’s Engagement on Export Controls
Every great journey begins with a single step. When the Erlangen Initiative was launched in 2023 to foster collaboration between academia and regulators in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540, that first step was taken. Today, the dialogue has advanced to Munich, marking a significant step forward in deepening this engagement. On 26–27 November 2025, the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control, in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, organized the 3rd Erlangen Global Conference in Munich, Germany. The…
Regional Workshop on the Biological Weapons Convention in the Caribbean
From 25 to 26 November 2025, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Implementation Support Unit (ISU) organized a regional workshop on strengthening the implementation of the BWC. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs and the Ministry of Health of Trinidad and Tobago and was made possible with the financial support from the European Union. Photo credit: European Union Delegation to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago The workshop…
UNSGM experts join training course on sampling and transport of toxic and infectious substances
From 17-21 November 2025, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)’s National Microbiology Laboratory, organized a training course on sampling and transport of toxic and infectious substances for the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigations of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM) in Berlin, Germany. A group of 15 qualified experts nominated by Member States to the UNSGM roster from 14 countries…
Peace in progress: High Representative Nakamitsu’s podcast on humanitarian disarmament and mine action
The latest episode of the Silent Killers podcast, hosted by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), brings a deeply human and timely perspective from Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. Drawing on more than three decades of work across humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping missions, development and multilateral diplomacy, she offers a candid assessment of the global disarmament landscape, and a reminder of why strengthened efforts in this field are crucial. Ms. Nakamitsu’s early postings within the…
Building Africa’s Next Generation of SALW Practitioners: Nineteen Fellows Complete First UNODA Fellowship for Africa
13 October – 7 November 2025 Nineteen practitioners from sixteen African countries completed the inaugural UNODA African Fellowship on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Control programme established following the United Nations General Assembly’s decision in resolution 77/71 (2022) to create a dedicated fellowship training initiative to support the implementation of the UN Programme of Action (UN PoA) and the International Tracing Instrument (ITI). Responding to Member States’ calls for more sustained, practical, and context-specific capacity-building, the Fellowship was…
3rd training course on ‘Biological Crime Scene Management’ held for UNSGM experts
From 3-7 November 2025, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), in cooperation with INTERPOL’s Bioterrorism Prevention Unit and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory, organized a training course on biological crime scene management for the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigations of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM) at the United Nations Global Service Centre – Conference and Learning Centre (UNGSC-CLC) in Brindisi, Italy. This was the…
Botswana and South Africa Deepen Cooperation on Resolution 1540 Export and Border Controls through Peer-to-Peer Exercise
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) supported Botswana and South Africa in organizing a peer-to-peer assistance exercise aimed at strengthening export and border control measures under United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004). Held from 4 to 6 November 2025 at the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation in Pretoria, the three-day event convened twenty-nine representatives from policy, regulatory, and law enforcement authorities of both countries, alongside two UNODA officials and a member of the 1540 Committee Group of…
First Committee side event: “Secretary-General’s Campaign on Humanitarian Disarmament and Mine Action”
On 22 October, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Department of Peace Operations (DPO)/UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) co-hosted a side event on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee and Fourth Committee to amplify the Secretary-General’s campaign on Humanitarian Disarmament and Mine Action. The event brought together representatives from 46 Member States and key stakeholders from across the United Nations system and civil society. The side event emphasized the strategic convergence of insights from the Secretary-General’s reports on Mine…
100 Young Leaders Complete the YLF Online Training to Advance Nuclear Disarmament
On 6 November 2025, the second cohort of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs’ Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons (YLF) gathered to celebrate the completion of their online training. Through the programme, funded by the Government of Japan, 100 selected participants from 62 countries learned about nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, UN disarmament machinery, and the unique impacts of nuclear weapons on diverse populations - building leadership skills to advance disarmament efforts. During the closing event, participants heard from senior UNODA officials. The…