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ANIAC, in partnership with UNREC, strengthens chemical security and combats illegal trafficking.
Lomé, 6 November 2025: The National Authority for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (ANIAC-TOGO), in collaboration with the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), held a strategic capacity-building workshop dedicated to securing the management of toxic chemicals. The workshop aimed to evaluate and reinforce national mechanisms for controlling the transfer and use of hazardous substances, aligning with the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). As a key regional partner, UNREC provided technical expertise to ensure that Togo’s…
UNREC deploys an assessment mission to Ghana for the SALIENT Fund Technical Review Meeting
Group photo of the SALIENT Fund Technical Review Meeting with UNREC Director and UNDP Ghana Deputy Resident Representative Accra, 14 August 2025: The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) concluded a strategic assessment mission to Ghana. The mission aimed to evaluate the status of the “Saving Lives Entity” (SALIENT) project, a flagship initiative dedicated to addressing armed violence and the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW). The SALIENT Fund, a joint effort between the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs…
Burundi Validates its National Action Plan to Combat the Illicit Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Bujumbura, 25 November 2025: In response to the security challenges posed by the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the Great Lakes region, Burundi continues to strengthen its national arms control framework. In this context, a National Validation Workshop of the National Action Plan (NAP) to Combat the Illicit Proliferation of SALW was held on 25 November 2025 in Bujumbura, at the Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika. The workshop brought together 25 participants, including representatives from the National Commission on SALW, relevant line ministries, defense and…
Charting pathways to strengthen armed violence prevention in West Africa
Version française ci-dessous On 26-27 November, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) convened a workshop in Lomé, Togo, to consider and chart the implementation of a study on integrating the prevention of violent extremism and illicit weapons proliferation. The event brought together over 50 West African experts from States, the UN, regional and continental organizations, civil society and academia. In recent years,…
The BWC at 50: African Conference Highlights Progress, Challenges and the Road Ahead
From 26 to 28 November 2025, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), in partnership with the Government of Kenya, held the first African Conference on the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in Nairobi, Kenya. The landmark event, held in the year of the 50th anniversary of the BWC, was the largest ever gathering of African States parties to the BWC and showcased the region’s growing leadership on issues related to disarmament and biosecurity. The conference was attended by 140 delegates, including officials from 47 African States Parties, three African States not…
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…
First Committee Side Event: End-Use/r Controls Workshop by UNIDIR
On Tuesday 28 October the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) hosted a workshop on end-use/r controls, called “Initiating a global dialogue on strengthening end use/r control systems: Can harmonization help tackle arms diversion?”. UNIDIR is conducting an ongoing research project on the possibilities for harmonizing end-use/r control systems, as there are significant differences in these systems around the world. This workshop, held as a side event of the ongoing First Committee, provided an opportunity for UNIDIR to update Member States on its progress…