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Building the global norm against biological weapons: the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
From 24 to 28 February 2025, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Geneva Branch and the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) hosted a commemorative exhibition at the Palais des Nations. Marking the centenary of the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the BWC, the exhibition highlighted the efforts of multiple stakeholders to build the global norm against the use of biological weapons and emphasized the continued relevance of these two milestone agreements in maintaining global…
Sustaining the fight against the illicit proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in The Gambia
A delegation of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) travelled to Banjul from 27 to 31 January. The main objective of their Mission was threefold: i) assess the institutional capacities of the recently established National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW); ii) support for the development of a national action plan on SALW; and iii) foster stronger collaboration among national stakeholders and with the United Nations Country Team. The mission took place in the context of the implementation of the EU funded project, entitled “United…
Parliamentarians from African States not party to the Biological Weapons Convention gather in support of universalisation
On 10 and 11 February, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) welcomed parliamentary delegations from Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt and Somalia, five of the six African States not yet party to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), to Geneva for a high-level seminar in support of universalisation. The seminar focussed on raising awareness about the importance of BWC universalisation and sought to encourage broad regional and international cooperation to that end. Delegates with His Excellency Ambassador Frederico S. Duque…
Call for Papers: The impact of the global increase in military expenditure on the achievement of the sustainable development goals
In the Pact for the Future, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2024, Member States voiced their concern about the potential impact that the global increase in military expenditures could have on investments in sustainable development and sustaining peace. To that end, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to “provide analysis on the impact of the global increase in military expenditure on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by the end of the seventy-ninth session”. With the aim of encouraging engagement and reflection on this subject by Member…
Mauritania strengthens national implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention
From 13 to 14 January 2025 in Nouakchott, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Radiation Protection, Nuclear Safety and Security Authority (ARSN) of Mauritania jointly organized a national workshop on strengthening the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). This was the first workshop of its kind in Mauritania since it joined the BWC in 2015. Mauritania has made significant progress towards BWC implementation prior to the event including the nomination a BWC National Contact Point (NCP) in 2023 and the submission of its first…
African Amnesty Month: Djibouti launches activities to ‘Silence the Guns’
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) took part in the launch of the African Amnesty Month (AAM) in Djibouti from 29th to 31st October, along with the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA), which also represented the African Union. During the three-day mission, several activities were held to raise awareness about the fight against the illicit trade and use of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). These included planting trees at Camp Lemonnier;a march from Camp Lemonnier to the National police shooting range; the…
Hibakusha Meets UN Tour Guides and Interns
On 18 December 2015, Mr. Yasuaki Yamashita, a hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) from Nagasaki who now lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, met with UN Tour Guides and also with UN interns in New York to share his testimony of the horrors of the nuclear bombing he experienced seventy years ago on 9 August in 1945. The event was opened by the Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. KIM Won-soo, who remarked that the testimonies by the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki form an historical legacy for promoting peace and for securing a world free of nuclear…
Workshop on Building Capacity in SALW Control through the United Nations Programme of Action
25-26 November 2015Manila, the Philippines More than 40 experts and participants from the Philippine Police, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crimes met on 25-26 November 2015 in Manila, the Philippines, to learn more about and discuss the implementation requirements for the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA SALW) and in this context to share and recommend best practices. This workshop was…
CCW Meeting Takes Forward Mandate on Laws and Paves the Way for 2016 Fifth Review Conference
In Geneva, on 13 November 2015, States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons(CCW)1 completed a week of conferences, where one of the key issues before States Parties was Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), which has been the subject of intense discussion over the past two years within the CCW. The Meeting was chaired by Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha of Sri Lanka. In welcoming the decision on the 2016 mandate on LAWS, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha said “LAWS if developed could be a major game changer in how armed conflicts are…
Educating Teachers about Nuclear Disarmament at the United Nations
As part of its ongoing efforts on disarmament education, UNODA organizes an annual workshop for New York City Public School teachers on nuclear disarmament. On 3 November 2015, the fourth such workshop was held, in collaboration with Hibakusha Stories and Youth Arts New York. Thirty teachers took part that day, as New York teachers have a day for continuing professional education efforts (while their schools are turned into polling stations for local elections). The goal of the day was to instruct teachers on nuclear disarmament, and inform them about the…