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Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor 2018
On 29 October 2018, the launch of Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor 2018 took place at a side event of the General Assembly’s First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. The new publication measures progress related to signature and ratification of and compliance with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).The launch event featured a panel organized by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in collaboration with the Permanent Missions of Austria, Ireland and New Zealand to the United Nations. …
ODA concludes a series of regional science and technology workshops on the Biological Weapons Convention
On 22 November 2018, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) marked the conclusion of the fifth and final workshop in a series of regional science and technology workshops under European Union (EU) Council Decision 2016/51 in support of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The Regional Workshop for Asia, held in Manila, Philippines, and co-organised with the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, opened on 21 November 2018 and entailed two days of comprehensive discussions on the implications of the rapid developments in the life sciences and…
The Expanding Use of Armed UAVs and the Need for International Standards
On 24 October 2018, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) hosted a side event of the United Nations First Committee entitled “The Expanding Use of Armed UAVs and the Need for International Standards,” co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Germany and the Netherlands with PAX and the Stimson Center. Dr. Renata Dwan, the Director of UNIDIR, opened the event by noting several areas of discussion related to the rapid spread of armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): the lack of transparency; the need for a common…
How to Use the Arms Trade Treaty to Address Gender-Based Violence
On 19 October 2018, a side event entitled “How to Use the Arms Trade Treaty to Address Gender-Based Violence” took place during the United Nations First Committee, offering an introduction to a recently published risk assessment guide of the same name. The Permanent Missions of Ireland and Sweden to the United Nations co-sponsored the discussion, which included participants from Control Arms, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Reaching Critical Will and the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development. Gender remains a core theme in the…
Understanding the Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons on the Dark Web
On 26 October 2018, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) hosted a First Committee side event to present its thirty-second Occasional Paper, “The Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons on the Dark Web: A Study”. Researched and authored by Dr. Giacomo Persi Paoli of RAND Europe, the publication explores the illicit trade in firearms, ammunition and explosives on the “dark web”, a part of the Internet hidden behind anonymity software and not searchable by traditional search engines. Mr. John Ennis, Chief of UNODA’s Information and Outreach Branch and chair of the…
“Nuclear Weapons Today, from Hiroshima to Nagasaki to the Ban Treaty”: A Professional Development Workshop for High School Educators
On 6 November 2018, public high school teachers from across New York City trained and strategized at United Nations Headquarters to engage effectively with their students on nuclear weapons and disarmament-related topics. The 27 educators were part of a daylong workshop that civil society advocates have hosted every year since 2012 in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). Hibakusha Stories, an initiative of Youth Arts New York, seeks to inspire action for disarmament among younger generations by helping them more fully understand the firsthand…
High-Level Event at German Mission on Disarmament That Saves Lives in Support of the Secretary-General’s Disarmament Agenda
On Wednesday, 24 October 2018, the Permanent Mission of Germany organized a high-level event on the Secretary General’s Disarmament Agenda with particular focus on its section entitled “Disarmament that Saves Lives”. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations and moderator of the event, told the audience that conventional weapons are a root cause of violence while ammunition keeps conflicts alive. He added that small arms enable rampant crime and, in this regard, he highlighted the cooperation of Germany with the UN Regional Centre for Peace…
Data-Driven Protection and Arms Control
On 25 October 2018, the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations organized a side event entitled “Data-Driven Protection and Arms Control: How Civilian Casualty Recording and Civilian Harm Tracking Can Strengthen the Protection of Civilians and Arms Control”. The panel discussion was moderated by Ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in Geneva. Ms. Chloé Marnay-Baszanger, Chief of the Peace Mission Support Section at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, shared her reflections on data…
Strengthening the Role of the Regional Centres in the Context of the Secretary-General’s Disarmament Agenda
On 25 October 2018, the Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB) of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) held a side event on strengthening the role of the United Nations Regional Centres for Peace and Disarmament within the framework of the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament, “Securing Our Common Future”. The panel featured Ms. Mary Soliman, Chief of RDB; Dr. Nancy Robinson, Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC); Mr. Anselme Yabouri, Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace and…
Examining the Role of Conventional Arms Control in Preventing Conflicts and Building Peace
On 25 October 2018, the International Peace Institute (IPI), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations hosted a First Committee side event entitled “Examining the Role of Conventional Arms Control in Preventing Conflicts and Building Peace”. Mr. Jake Sherman, Director of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations at IPI and the event’s moderator, said the aim of the panel discussion was to better understand the role and impacts of conventional arms in communities as well as to better identify, utilize and…