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Young leaders across Northeast Asia tackle challenging security questions in online education series
The nine-member youth Steering Committee for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in Northeast Asia engaged with United Nations staff last week on a range of pressing international security challenges. Their webinar discussions were part of a wider learning series organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD) to help the young leaders prepare for an upcoming meeting in the Republic of Korea on disarmament and non-proliferation topics. Participants in the ongoing learning series are joining virtual educational…
Scores of young people train through 2020 ‘Scholarship for Peace and Security’
Students and young professionals from dozens of countries recently completed eight weeks of online training on an array of disarmament-related policy tools designed to help prevent and resolve conflict. The 135 young people were recipients of the 2020 Scholarship for Peace and Security, jointly organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in Vienna. The participants—122 of whom were women—together represented 53 OSCE participating States and Partners for Cooperation. The group was…
Youth discuss how to innovate responsibly and ‘secure our common future’
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students joined four UN-led online workshops last week to engage in discussions and activities about the impact of emerging technologies on global peace and security. The four sessions, which were part of the “Responsible Innovation for a Secure Environment” (RISE) Virtual Workshop Series, brought together over 30 students from Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore and the Singapore University of Technology and Design. The students remained scattered across Asia and the Pacific due to the ongoing…
Students weigh security implications of emerging tech in new UN workshop series
Technology focused students met online this week to critically assess how emerging technologies could impact peace and security around the world. The students, all enrolled at leading Singaporean Universities, but currently spread across Asia and the Pacific due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, were able to take advantage of the organizer’s pivot to remote workshops and engagement tools. They were taking part in the launch of the “Responsible Innovation for a Secure Environment” (RISE) Virtual Workshop Series. Organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) and its United…
Northeast Asian Youth Share Perspectives on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at Introductory Webinar
“Disarmament is an extremely broad and complex subject that is wide open for very valuable contributions from each of you in all of your respective fields, regardless of your specialities.” – Randy Rydell, Senior Political Affairs Officer (retired), Office for Disarmament Affairs and Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace A Steering Committee of young people from across Northeast Asia this month held the first of several education and training webinars in preparation to tackle disarmament and non-proliferation issues at a United Nations youth workshop later this year. At the…
Disarmament Web Talks: Progress made two years after the launch of the UN Secretary-General's Agenda for Disarmament
On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Secretary General´s Securing Our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament, the Vienna Office of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) organised the webinar “Progress made two years after the launch of the UN Secretary General´s Disarmament Agenda” on 28 May 2020. The webinar, part of the webinar series ‘Disarmament Web Talks’, reflected on how disarmament and non-proliferation discourse and practice have developed since the launch of the Agenda. The event was facilitated by Suzanne Oosterwijk of UNODA’s New…
High-level panel discussion: “The NPT at Fifty: maintaining momentum towards the Review Conference”
The Permanent Missions of Ireland and Costa Rica, with support from the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), hosted a virtual meeting entitled “The NPT at Fifty: maintaining momentum towards the Review Conference”. More than 200 participants attended the online event, held to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The high-level panel highlighted the Treaty’s indispensable role in maintaining international peace and security, while also considering how States and…
UNODA and Cybersecurity Tech Accord “Apps 4 Digital Peace!” contest: deadline extended to 30 July 2020
21st-century challenges need 21st-century solutions, especially when it comes to creating a safer and more secure online world. The global ICT environment is facing a dramatic increase in the malicious use of ICTs by State and non-State actors and may harm international peace and security. It is clear that bringing greater security and stability to cyberspace will require new and different ideas compared to what has worked in other domains of conflict, and collaboration across disciplines. This is why the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) partnered with the …
UNRCPD completes training on role of gender in small arms control
The staff of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD), in cooperation with UNDP SEESAC, successfully concluded a coaching programme on gender-mainstreaming small arms control on 23 April 2020. Comprising both on-site and online sessions, the coaching programme fit into a multi-year global effort by the Office for Disarmament Affairs in support of gender-mainstreaming policies and actions to prevent illegal flows and misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in line with the Women, Peace and Security agenda…
UNODA Launches Occasional Papers On Rethinking Unconstrained Military Spending
The United Nations Charter reflects an explicit understanding of the link between disarmament and development. Article 26 recognizes the need to ensure “the maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s economic and human resources”. Despite this clear, global commitment, military spending has seen its largest annual increase in a decade, reaching $1917 billion in 2019—a level not seen since the height of the cold war. Rethinking unconstrained military spending constitutes an important component of the Secretary-…