Displaying 411 - 420 of 701
“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…
A New Ambition to Defeat IEDs
On Thursday, 25 October 2018, the Permanent Mission of France convened a panel presentation entitled “A New Ambition to Defeat Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)”. Ambassador Yann Hwang, the Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament and chair of the event, recalled the tragic November 2015 Paris attacks that brought IEDs to the fore of public awareness. Ambassador Hwang also noted France’s engagement in several operations abroad, including Mali, where IEDs are a daily and deadly hazard to military personnel and civilian populations. …
Joint Briefing on the NPT Review Cycle
On 16 October 2018, a briefing on the review cycle of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) took place as a side event of the General Assembly First Committee. The joint presentation was led by Chairs of the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) sessions for the 2020 NPT Review Conference, and it was hosted and organized by the Permanent Missions of the Netherlands, Malaysia and Poland. Joining the briefing in lieu of the 2017 PrepCom Chair, Ambassador Robbert Gabriëlse of the Netherlands began the session by…
ATT Voluntary Trust Fund
On 22 October 2018, the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations partnered with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Secretariat to hold a First Committee side event on the ATT Voluntary Trust Fund. Participants in the panel discussion explored various aspects of the Voluntary Trust Fund established under the Treaty, including its grant application process. The panelists included Ambassador Jānis Kārkliņš, Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations and President of the upcoming Fifth Conference of States Parties to the Arms…
Beyond the Buzz: Gender in Arms Control
On 25 October, a panel discussion entitled Beyond the Buzz: Gender in Arms Control was held as a side event of the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. It was jointly organized by the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and Small Arms Survey. The panel was moderated by Rosemary McCarney, the Permanent Representative of Canada to the Conference on Disarmament and the UN in Geneva. In her opening remarks, Ambassador McCarney advocated for a shift beyond the numbers towards substantive analysis of gender in arms…
“Evidence of Absence” panelists describe new verification methods for supporting nuclear disarmament
On 18 October 2018, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) hosted a First Committee side event entitled “Evidence of Absence: Verifying Removal of Nuclear Weapons”. Ms. Renata Dwan, the Director of UNIDIR, moderated a discussion between four panelists: Ambassador Ann-Sofie Nilsson of Sweden; Dr. Pavel Podvig, UNIDIR Senior Researcher, Dr. Wilfred Wan, UNIDIR Researcher; and Ms. Christine Parthemore, Director of the Climate-Nuclear-Security Program at the Council on Strategic Risks. The event explored a new UNIDIR study…