Displaying 11 - 20 of 74
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…
Experts reflect on the origin, relevance, and future of CCW Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons
On 17 November 2022, UNODA Geneva hosted a webinar on the genesis, history and relevance of Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The webinar was organized on the margins of the Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the CCW, as part of the EU Council decision (CFSP) 2021/1694 in support of the universalization, implementation and strengthening of the CCW. Growing humanitarian concern over the development of blinding laser weapons reached the international arena in the late 1980s.…
What’s next for disarmament education? UNODA Vienna Office launches new strategy as it celebrates 10-year anniversary
In a “soft launch” event held in Vienna on 5 December 2022, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) announced the publication of its first ever Disarmament Education Strategy. The audience included members of the local diplomatic community and the United Nations family, representatives of regional and civil society organizations, as well as past and present staff of the UNODA Vienna Office. The strategy aims to adopt a more strategic approach and develop a common framework for UNODA’s disarmament education work. Disarmament education has long been a key priority for…
It’s a wrap! A year of responsible innovation in AI for disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation
Thanks to a generous contribution from the Republic of Korea, in 2022 the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) carried out their first global project on the responsible innovation of AI for disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. Responsible AI is a young and evolving field of research and practice. While it is widely being discussed as a fitting approach to AI governance, more work needs to be done to understand how it can be put into practice across critical sectors, how to coordinate the many…
French-speaking African parliamentarians convene to discuss regional security and civil-military relations during Disarmament Week
During this year’s Disarmament Week, the United Nations Regional Center for Peace, and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) organized a workshop with parliamentarians from French-speaking African countries on their contributions to establishing effective defense and security policies in Africa. Co-funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), the event linked the parliamentarians with expert panelists from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS Africa) and the Parliamentarian Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PFSALW), with a view to discussing ways to …
Estudio Regional Presenta Medidas Para el Fortalecimento de la No Proliferación de Armas Biológicas en América Latina y el Caribe
En el marco de la Novena Conferencia de Revisión de la Convención sobre las Armas Biológicas (CABT), el Centro Regional de las Naciones Unidas para la Paz, el Desarme y el Desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe (UNLIREC) presentó el Estudio regional “La no proliferación de armas biológicas: desafíos y oportunidades para la América Latina y el Caribe”. El nuevo estudio brinda un panorama general sobre los avances que los Estados de dicha región hicieron en la adopción de marcos legales nacionales y medidas prácticas para implementar sus compromisos internacionales contra la…