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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…
Erlangen Initiative: Fostering Collaboration Between Academia and Government Regulators for UNSCR 1540 Implementation
From 8 to 9 November, the Government of Germany in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), hosted the inaugural Erlangen Conference in Nuremberg, Germany. The event brought together over 80 representatives from regulatory authorities, export regimes, and academia to explore ways to strengthen the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004). Adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council in April 2004, UNSCR 1540 places obligations on States to prevent non-state actors from attempting to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess…
UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa participates in the West African Region Working Group of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum
From 5 to 7 December, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) participated in the West African Region Working Group of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCTF). The regional meeting [MC1] , supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was held in Banjul, The Gambia. Attendees included senior officials from West African Member States and associated Sahel States, including Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Global Counter Terrorism Forum Member States included …
Annual Coordination Meeting of the National Commissions on Small Arms and Light Weapons (NATCOMs) held in Dakar
Figure 1/Meeting in session From 13 to 15 December 2023, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) successfully convened the Annual Coordination Meeting of National Commissions on Small Arms and Light Weapons (NATCOMs) in Dakar, Senegal. This gathering was prompted by the escalating menace of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), youth-related gun violence, and the growing specter of violent extremism and terrorism within the ECOWAS Region. The primary objectives of the meeting were to facilitate the exchange of national experiences and to chart the course for the…
Integrating gender-responsive actions into small arms control measures: A review of progress made by Burundi, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone
On 11 December, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) launched the first webinar in a series on “Taking stock of gender-responsive actions into small arms control measures.” The webinar, organized in support of the Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA), was attended by officials of Burundi, Cameroon and Sierra Leone, [MC1] who have taken part in the project’s implementation. The[MC1] purpose of the webinar was to take…
Office for Disarmament Affairs and UN Institute for Disarmament Research host event on Directed Energy Weapons
On 15 November, the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) hosted a side event on the margins of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the High Contracting Parties of the Convention on Conventional weapons in Geneva. The subject of the panel was directed energy weapons (DEWs) and the implications of their use under international law and was organized with the financial support of the European Union, under the aegis of the project in support of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). Juliana Helou van der Berg,…
UNSGM experts join training course on Safe and Secure Approaches to Field Environments (SSAFE)
UNSGM experts join training course on Safe and Secure Approaches to Field Environments (SSAFE) From 26 November – 2 December, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) organized a training course in Thailand on ‘Safe and Secure Approaches in Field Environments’ (SSAFE) for the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigations of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM). The objective of the course was to provide a group of qualified experts nominated by Member States to the…