Diversity brings to us innovative and creative approaches that are so needed to tackle some of our most difficult disarmament and security challenges of the twenty-first century. Inclusive multilateralism, based on strong partnership with diverse actors, is a smart and indeed necessary element for today's disarmament discussions.
In 2022, the General Assembly renewed two key resolutions mandating United Nations information and outreach activities in the area of disarmament: “United Nations Disarmament Information Programme” (77/87); and “United Nations study on disarmament and non-proliferation education” (77/52). Those resolutions enable the Office for Disarmament Affairs and other United Nations entities to provide Member States, the diplomatic community, non-governmental organizations and the public at large with unbiased, up-to-date and relevant information on multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control.
For the forty-sixth consecutive year since 1976, the Office published the United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, providing a comprehensive account of developments and issues in the field of disarmament. The 2021 Yearbook featured a collection of explanatory graphics and charts, as well as an entire chapter on gender issues in disarmament.
Seeking to strengthen the sustainability and impact of its disarmament education efforts, the Office launched its first formal Disarmament Education Strategy in December. In addition to outlining important areas of disarmament education where it would strive to advance in the coming years, the Office emphasized the central role of partnerships and, moving forward, its ongoing commitment to generate and connect relevant networks in the disarmament education field.
(As at 31 December 2022)
The Disarmament Education Dashboard of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is a global online learning platform providing free training at various proficiency levels to diverse audiences. It offers interactive, self-paced, instructor-led and blended courses, webinars and workshops accessible from various devices. It was launched and is managed by the UNODA Vienna Office, which regularly updates and upgrades it to reflect innovations in e-learning. By the end of 2022, it had almost 13,000 registered users from diverse backgrounds and age groups. Almost 60 per cent of them were women. With over 270 thematic modules, the Dashboard hosts courses in all key areas of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, as well as cross-cutting issues.
The Office also produced a new edition of its Civil Society and Disarmament collection, entitled B Flat, B Sharp, Be Inspired: Voices of Youth. In the volume, published in December, young contributors highlighted their diverse efforts to pursue peace through disarmament in the twenty-first century.
In a new edition of its series Programmes Financed from Voluntary Contributions, covering the period 2021–2022, the Office showcased the instrumental role of effective partnerships with donors in achieving ambitious goals in the field of disarmament.
Over the course of the year, the Office produced three publications on the Biological Weapons Convention. In a new edition of The Biological Weapons Convention: An Introduction, released in March, the Office presented a comprehensive overview of the Convention, the history of the negotiations and the current state of implementation. In April, it issued Operationalising Article VII of the Biological Weapons Convention, containing reflections on implementing the Convention’s article VII. In December, the Office published the Guide to Implementing the Biological Weapons Convention, describing the national implementation process and obligations stemming from the Convention.
The Department of Peace Operations and the Office for Disarmament Affairs released Weapons and Ammunition Dynamics in the Lake Chad Basin, presenting key findings and recommendations to support the design and implementation of evidence-based, efficient and gender-sensitive initiatives for weapons and ammunition management and for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
The main website of the Office for Disarmament Affairs (https://disarmament.unoda.org) recorded over 852,000 unique visits in 2022. During the year, the Office upgraded its main website to help improve its security, performance and reliability. Meanwhile, the Office launched a project to integrate its various databases into a portal that would serve as a repository for all disarmament-related data.
Regarding media outreach, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs participated in press briefings and more than 30 interviews with international television, radio and print reporters. She also joined the top officials of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Committee of the Red Cross in urging States to support a newly agreed declaration on strengthening the protection of civilians from the humanitarian consequences arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
On 7 June, the Office for Disarmament Affairs published the French, Korean and Spanish versions of the #Intro2Disarmament videos, entitled “What is disarmament?”, “Disarmament in the 21st Century — An overview of the Pillars of the Disarmament Agenda”, “How does disarmament and arms control work?”, “Disarmament and the Sustainable Development Goals” and “How to engage”.
The Office for Disarmament Affairs continued efforts to facilitate the diverse and inclusive engagement of young people in the disarmament and non-proliferation field through its outreach initiative #Youth4Disarmament. In a highlight from the year, one of the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament[1] addressed the high-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The Office also launched the #Leaders4Tomorrow Workshop Series, which brought together 25 competitively selected young leaders. Participants attended five sessions to explore how disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control are linked with other topics related to maintaining international peace and security. As part of the programme, the participants developed their own projects to advance disarmament education as a solution for peace within their local communities and youth networks.
After the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2250 (2015) on youth, peace and security, the General Assembly increased its number of official references to “youth” or “young people” in resolutions.
The Assembly also expanded the scope of its language in resolutions on youth, moving beyond their participation in educational activities in order to recognize their active role and contributions as advocates for disarmament. In 2019, the Assembly reaffirmed the important and positive contribution of young people in sustaining peace and security through its first-ever resolution on “Youth, disarmament and non-proliferation” (74/64), which also encouraged Member States, the United Nations, relevant specialized agencies and regional and subregional organizations to promote the meaningful and inclusive participation of young people in discussions in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. In its 2021 resolution on “Youth, disarmament and non-proliferation” (76/45), the General Assembly requested specific measures to promote the meaningful and inclusive participation and empowerment of youth on disarmament and non-proliferation issues, including through the effective utilization of the dedicated digital platform Youth4Disarmament and token grants and awards supported by voluntary contributions.
This podcast episode, which is also part of the Vienna Conversation Series, aims to engage youth and amplify fresh thinking as it raises awareness about disarmament's centrality in addressing global challenges. In a dynamic exchange of views with High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, youth representatives Kasha Sequoia Slavner and Louis Reitmann share their thoughts on ways to educate, engage and empower young people in the disarmament field. Both speakers were participants in the 2022 #Leaders4Tomorrow workshops.
#Leaders4Tomorrow present 23 projects to advance disarmament education at an event on the margins of the General Assembly First Committee on 19 October.
The United Nations Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament largely returned to its traditional, in-person format for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, training diplomats and other officials from 24 States.[2] Additionally, the inaugural United Nations-Singapore Cyber Fellowship was held in August to equip national authorities working on cyber strategy, policy, technology and operations with practical knowledge and skills drawing upon the United Nations-developed normative framework.
Rebecca Jovin, Chief of the Vienna Office of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, engages with visitors as the Office showcases its work during the “Long Night of Research” event at the Vienna International Centre on 20 May.
The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), an autonomous research institute within the United Nations, undertook research activities under five multi-year programmes, on conventional arms and ammunition, weapons of mass destruction, gender and disarmament, security and technology, and space security. A pair of its special research projects dealt with “managing exits from armed conflicts” and the proposed Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction. In addition to producing 98 publications in 2022, UNIDIR supported dialogue between disarmament stakeholders through over 130 conferences, workshops and events that attracted more than 9,500 participants.
The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook remained the flagship publication of the Office for Disarmament Affairs in 2022. The forty-sixth volume of the Yearbook was issued in two parts: Part I, on the resolutions and decisions of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly, was published in April; and Part II, covering the main multilateral issues under consideration in 2022, was launched in October. The Yearbook was made available on a dedicated website (https://yearbook.unoda.org), allowing diplomats, technical experts, journalists and other readers to navigate the comprehensive overview of key developments and trends from the previous year in the area of multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control. To further highlight key findings, the 2022 edition included a collection of explanatory graphics and charts. The Office also issued the latest versions of the Yearbook in PDF format.
As part of a review of the Yearbook, in early December the Office conducted a survey of the usage, ratings, preferences and profiles of the publication’s readers. The response to the survey was better than in previous years, with 54 respondents, 43 per cent of them women and 55 per cent men. They were mostly members of delegations and academia, and they mainly came from Europe, Africa and the Americas. An overwhelming majority expressed strong overall satisfaction with the Yearbook (“excellent” and “very good” ratings). Results showed that the most consulted sections of the Yearbook were on the resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly, developments and trends, the status of disarmament and related treaties, and nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation issues.
In November, the Office issued the 2021–2022 edition of Programmes Financed from Voluntary Contributions, showcasing concrete results of its partnerships with donors and underscoring the essential role of extrabudgetary support in attaining important disarmament goals. The activities featured in the publication included educating the next generation of artificial intelligence developers regarding the technology’s implications for global peace and security, and supporting the African Union in collecting and destroying illegally held firearms as part of the Union’s “Silencing the Guns” flagship initiative. The publication also highlighted support for young leaders to address the Conference on Disarmament at its first plenary meeting on youth and disarmament, as well as to develop the Seoul Youth Declaration for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.
For the 2022 edition of the Civil Society and Disarmament series, the Office published B Flat, B Sharp, Be Inspired: Voices of Youth in December. Various #Youth4Disarmament members[3] authored the featured articles, which were previously published in the “Spotlight Stories” section of the #Youth4Disarmament community website. The stories reflected hope for a better future and laid out some of the diverse and accessible ways to pursue peace through disarmament in the twenty-first century.
In March, the second edition of The Biological Weapons Convention: An Introduction was released. As with the 2017 version, the Office published the handbook to provide a comprehensive overview of the Biological Weapons Convention, the history of the negotiations and the current state of the Convention’s implementation.
Published in April, with financial support from Japan, in preparation for the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, Operationalising Article VII of the Biological Weapons Convention[4] contained reflections on implementing the Convention’s article VII. It also highlighted several issues that States parties would come across as they further developed shared understandings and agreements on how to operationalize article VII.
In October, the Department of Peace Operations and the Office for Disarmament Affairs released Weapons and Ammunition Dynamics in the Lake Chad Basin, which they developed in partnership with the Lake Chad Basin Commission with the financial support of Germany. The study presented key findings and recommendations to support policymakers and practitioners in designing and implementing evidence-based, efficient and gender-sensitive initiatives for weapons and ammunition management and for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
In December, the Office launched its Disarmament Education Strategy to provide a common framework for disarmament education efforts, enhance coordination and coherence across various educational activities, diversify partnerships and audiences reached, and foster more sustainable and impactful initiatives.
Also in December, the Office published the Guide to Implementing the Biological Weapons Convention to provide States parties with an overview of the national implementation process and obligations stemming from the Convention. Developed with the support of the European Union and Norway as well as the contributions of experts on the Convention, the Guide outlines the types of legislative, regulatory and other measures that States parties may consider in order to effectively implement the Convention.
Throughout the year, the Office for Disarmament Affairs continued to produce the “UNODA Update”, an online chronicle of events and activities of the Office and various disarmament forums. The Office posted 64 articles for the Update in 2022, collated by quarter.
For a list of the Office’s 2022 publications, including those of its regional centres, see the annex on 2022 resources.
The Office for Disarmament Affairs utilized its websites as a key tool for communication with delegates, civil society, staff members, and the public. Its main website (https://disarmament.unoda.org) recorded over 852,000 unique visits in 2022 and remained the Office’s main source for sharing updates, speeches, remarks, and news on multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation, and arms control. The Office provided fresh, regularly updated content through the website’s “Spotlights” and “Updates” sections, which featured the latest statements, articles, stories, and events. The Office also prioritized offering content in all six United Nations official languages.
The Office undertook an upgrade of the main website to a more robust platform in 2022. By moving the website to a more modern content management system, the Office expected to improve its security, performance and reliability in line with best practices for change management.
In a key highlight of the year, the Office updated its Meetings Place website.[5] The new, database-driven site allows for faster and easier data entry, as well as standardized metadata for meetings and documents. The revamped website provides a streamlined experience for both meeting organizers and internal office users, including through a simplified process for creating entries for new meetings. In addition, documents and statement pages are now automatically generated, with certain configurable options. New documents and statements can be uploaded only once using a simple form, while revisions of existing documents can be made and reflected online in a few steps. The website also offers advanced analytics and visualization tools, providing valuable insights into meetings and documentation.
For the third consecutive year, the United Nations Disarmament Yearbook was available on a website (https://yearbook.unoda.org), making the publication easier to access and more visually appealing. Users could conveniently navigate key highlights through a visual timeline and graphics.
In 2022, the Office for Disarmament Affairs kicked off a project to upgrade its databases and integrate each of them into a portal to serve as a repository for all disarmament-related data. The project involves integrating the following databases:
The International Day against Nuclear Tests[6] on 29 August was observed at a high-level plenary session of the General Assembly held on 7 September at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
In advance of the commemoration, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Robert Floyd, delivered a video message in which he noted that the Treaty had supported the development of a widely observed global norm against nuclear testing since its adoption in 1996. “As we near the end of the twenty-fifth anniversary year of the [Treaty], we can choose our future: we can choose to end nuclear testing. It is within our power to ensure that future generations never know the devastation of a nuclear weapon by closing the door forever on nuclear weapon testing. Today, let’s recommit ourselves to this cause and to finishing what we started.”
The Secretary-General, in a message issued on 29 August, said the day “represents a global recognition of the catastrophic and lingering damage done in the name of the nuclear arms race. It is a way to remember those who suffered because of the folly of atomic brinkmanship. And it is an alarm bell for the world to finally put in place a legally binding prohibition on all nuclear tests.”
During the high-level meeting of the General Assembly, States reaffirmed their support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and called for its entry into force through the ratification or accession by the eight remaining Annex 2 States.[7]
Abdulla Shahid, President of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly and Chair of the high-level meeting held on 7 September, delivered opening remarks. He stressed that the need for a strong, united and, most importantly, global front, in the mission to ban all nuclear testing. He added that all existing instruments must be implemented towards that end and that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty provided a strong legal framework for that endeavour.
In an accompanying statement, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs welcomed the ratification of the Treaty by four additional States[8] since August 2021. She said, “I hope that this will provide motivation for the eight remaining Annex 2 States — whose ratification is required for the [Treaty’s] entry into force — to sign and ratify the Treaty without delay, and the impetus for the rest of the non-Annex 2 States, of which fewer than a dozen now remain, to join the treaty.”
The commemorative event included statements from 22 Member States, five of which spoke for regional organizations or groups of States. The event also included statements from three observer entities[9] and one civil society organization.[10]
The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons[11] was marked on 26 September at a high-level plenary meeting convened by the President of the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi (Hungary). In his opening remarks to the meeting, the President of the General Assembly said that the war in Ukraine had raised credible risks of global nuclear disaster: “I am particularly appalled by the recurring, thinly veiled threats of nuclear strikes. Tactical strikes, it is often added, but we all know that such a conflict would never stay at the tactical level.”
The Secretary-General gave a message in which he lamented the failure of the States parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to find agreement on a substantive outcome at their tenth Review Conference in August 2022: “Despite meaningful engagement by parties across all three of the Treaty’s pillars, this unique moment failed to result in the outcome we so desperately need. We are disappointed — but we will not give up. I urge all States to use every avenue of dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to ease tensions, reduce risk and eliminate the nuclear threat.”
The commemorative event included statements[12] from 45 Member States, four observers[13] and two civil society organizations.[14]
On 6 August, the Secretary-General delivered a statement at the seventy-seventh Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. In his remarks, the Secretary-General urged the international community to heed the message of the survivors of the atomic bomb, known as the hibakusha, and to finish the work they had carried forward through their unflinching testimonies: “Three quarters of a century later, we must ask what we’ve learned from the mushroom cloud that swelled above this city in 1945. Or from the cold war and the terrifying near-misses that placed humanity within minutes of annihilation. Or from the promising decades of arsenal reductions and widespread acceptance of the principles against the use, proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons.”
He continued, “Countries with nuclear weapons must commit to the ‘no first use’ of those weapons. They must also assure States that do not have nuclear weapons that they will not use — or threaten to use — nuclear weapons against them. And they must be transparent throughout. … My message to them is simple: Take the nuclear option off the table — for good.”
Following the ceremony, the Secretary-General met with the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, who gave the Secretary-General a special tour of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, after which they signed the museum’s guestbook. The Secretary-General then met with a group of hibakusha who shared their experiences with him.
Next, the Secretary-General met with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who bestowed upon him a special honorary citizenship. He accepted the honour on behalf of all those working for a nuclear-weapon-free world and in memory of the tens of thousands of people who were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 77 years earlier.
At a press encounter that followed, the Secretary-General told reporters that the world was in danger of forgetting the lessons forged in Hiroshima in 1945. He added that it was unacceptable for States in possession of nuclear weapons to admit the possibility of nuclear war. He also stressed that we must use every avenue of dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to ease tensions and eliminate the nuclear threat.
In addition, the Secretary-General met with the Hiroshima Governor, Hidehiko Yuzaki, and took part in a dialogue with young activists who were leading initiatives on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. In that context, he emphasized the importance of young people speaking up for nuclear disarmament and keeping the memory of the impacts of the bombings alive.
In 2022, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs held several press briefings on the margins of milestone disarmament meetings. In June, following the conclusion of the first Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the High Representative spoke to reporters regarding the Meeting’s outcomes as well as her expectations for the Treaty going forward. In August, she engaged in conversation with the media about the conclusion of the tenth Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, urging Member States to build on their meaningful engagement and restore momentum coming into the Treaty’s next review cycle. Furthermore, ahead of the Review Conference, the Office organized a press encounter to provide United Nations-based media with background details on the meeting’s agenda and proceedings to facilitate informed reporting.
In November, before the ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, the United Nations Information Service in Geneva hosted a media briefing by the President-designate, covering both substantive and procedural expectations for the meeting. After the States parties reached a consensus outcome at the Review Conference in December, the High Representative offered her assessment to reporters on site and participated in several interviews during the following weeks regarding ways to translate the gains of the Conference into practical progress. The High Representative — together with Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; Catherine Russell, United Nations Children’s Fund Executive Director; and Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross — called on States to support the declaration on strengthening the protection of civilians from the humanitarian consequences arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Given the high likelihood of indiscriminate and disproportionate effects resulting from their use, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross consistently called on all States and parties to armed conflict to avoid the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas and to strive to take conflict out of urban centres altogether. The new political declaration, they argued, is a major collective milestone in protecting civilians from the increasing urbanization of armed conflict.
In addition, the High Representative and senior staff of the Office participated in interviews with a range of international television, radio and print media outlets. In over 30 interviews and various media briefings, the High Representative spoke, inter alia, about the state of affairs of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, notably with regard to nuclear weapons; artificial intelligence and its impact on weapons technology; and women in disarmament and gender and arms policies.
Other officials of the Office for Disarmament Affairs also participated in a briefing concerning disarmament-related matters for young international media representatives and journalists participating in the Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship.
The Office issued seven press releases in 2022 to communicate key issues and activities.
Throughout 2022, Member States continued their efforts with United Nations entities, relevant specialized agencies, and regional and subregional organizations to promote the meaningful and inclusive participation and empowerment of youth in disarmament and non-proliferation efforts, as the General Assembly had encouraged in its biennial resolution 74/64 of 12 December 2019 and 76/45 of 6 December 2021, entitled “Youth, disarmament and non-proliferation”.
In 2022, the Office for Disarmament Affairs continued its efforts to facilitate the diverse and inclusive engagement of young people in the disarmament and non-proliferation field through its outreach initiative, “#Youth4Disarmament”. As at the end of 2022, youth participation at formal and informal disarmament meetings had increased by more than 500 per cent since the launch of the initiative in 2019.
In a highlight from the year, under the initiative’s Advocates in Motion Campaign, one of the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament[15] addressed the high-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
In March, as part of the third and final phase of the Youth Champions for Disarmament Training Programme, seven youth leaders from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America participated in a 10-day immersive experience in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control. With funding from Germany, the Youth Champions attended a series of informative briefings with experts from think tanks, civil society organizations and the diplomatic field at United Nations Headquarters in New York and the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Office also launched the “#Leaders4Tomorrow” Workshop Series with financial support from the Republic of Korea. A group of 25 young leaders, selected from over 400 applicants, participated in five training sessions to explore how disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control are linked with other topics related to the maintenance of international peace and security. As part of the programme, the participants developed their own projects to advance disarmament education as a solution to peace within their local communities and youth networks. The cohort presented their projects to Member States and other stakeholders at an event on the margins of the seventy-seventh session of the First Committee in October at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
In August, the Office organized a youth exchange with Ms. Setsuko Thurlow, an atomic bomb survivor from Hiroshima, on the margins of the tenth Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. She shared her testimony with 25 young attendees to inspire their action to advance the pursuit of a nuclear-weapon-free world. Additionally, a series of briefings with academia promoted the Office’s youth engagement programmes and strengthened the initiative’s outreach efforts.
The Office also provided an array of activities to encourage young people of diverse interests, knowledge, and backgrounds to contribute to disarmament efforts through storytelling and expressive mediums such as music, writing and physical activity. Those activities included the following:
Disarmament and non-proliferation education continued to be a key priority for the Office for Disarmament Affairs, with a significant number of educational activities carried out across its different organizational branches and duty stations.
To further follow up on the recommendations contained in the 2002 United Nations study (A/57/124) on the matter, the Office undertook a mapping, review and updating of its outreach and disarmament education work in 2022, culminating in the publication of the first Office-wide Disarmament Education Strategy. Coordinated by its Vienna Office, the Strategy represents an effort to strengthen the sustainability and impact of the work of the Office and respond to the pressing need for authoritative, far-reaching, and inclusive disarmament education amidst the increasingly challenging disarmament and international security landscape. It outlines four key outcome areas that the Office will strive to advance in the coming years in its disarmament education work. It underscores the Office’s comparative advantages in the field of disarmament education, including its unique expertise and impartiality, as well as its convening and connecting power. Additionally, it emphasizes the central role of partnerships and the Office’s continued commitment to generating and connecting relevant networks in the disarmament education field.
In parallel, the Office continued to expand its outreach activities aimed at a broad audience unfamiliar with key disarmament concepts. It used social media, the United Nations website, and educational partners to disseminate a range of educational materials, including translations of the popular “disarmament explainer videos” into French, Spanish and Korean. The Office also expanded its multilingual offering of interactive e-learning training courses in 2022, with the Resolution 1540 (2004) Training Course, originally available only in English, made available in French, Russian and Spanish.
Meanwhile, the Office relaunched its in-person engagement with New York City public school teachers in 2022, holding its first workshop for local educators since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-organized by Youth Arts New York, the professional development workshop was part of the Office’s ongoing efforts to engage with educators to strengthen and expand disarmament education across the globe.
The Office also carried out disarmament education workshops for students throughout the year. In July, for example, it collaborated with the Prajnya Trust, an India-based civil society organization, to hold a remote workshop for Indian university students. In September, it partnered with the World Federation of United Nations Associations to host a workshop in New York for Korean university students.
At the regional level, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean continued its awareness-raising efforts tackling the presence and use of firearms in schools. The Centre launched a social media campaign in March to highlight the growing phenomenon of firearms in schools in the region, presenting data, material and publications throughout the month in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. In addition, an animated video launched for the campaign explains the issue of firearms in schools to a non-technical audience, thus expanding the campaign’s reach.
Moreover, in cooperation with various partners in the region, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific continued its awareness-raising and outreach activities in 2022. It partnered with the Prajnya Trust to organize a five-day online course entitled “Disarmament Toolkit”, aimed at equipping university students, peace advocates and other practitioners with conceptual, political and technical information on peace and disarmament issues. Throughout the course, over 100 university students and practitioners from civil society organizations, academia, United Nations agencies, international organizations and Governments from the region joined and participated under a broad spectrum of topics related to disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, including conventional arms, weapons of mass destruction, emerging technologies and disarmament education.
The Office for Disarmament Affairs also continued to expand its Disarmament Education Dashboard, a free global e-learning platform and database containing educational materials and training modules for diverse audiences. In 2022, the Dashboard saw the launch of four new interactive self-paced courses in the following subject areas: United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical, Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons; United Nations SaferGuard Programme and the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines; lethal autonomous weapon systems; and gun-free zones. As at the end of the year, the Dashboard had drawn over 12,900 learners from 185 countries, an increase of 20 per cent from 2021.
Through its “Responsible Innovation in AI for disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation” project, funded by the Republic of Korea, the Office for Disarmament Affairs continued its outreach to students and young practitioners in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as an audience not traditionally engaged in disarmament and non-proliferation education. In response to the accelerating use of artificial intelligence technologies with potential implications for international peace and security, the Office partnered with leading universities, regional organizations, industry actors and civil society organizations for the following projects; holding a week of capacity-building activities for young practitioners; producing and disseminating targeted educational materials in a variety of forms for a practitioner audience; and developing an article for a prominent industry publication.
The Youth for Biosecurity Initiative is a flagship endeavour sponsored by the European Union and implemented by the Geneva Branch of the Office for Disarmament Affairs since 2019. The main aims of the project are to integrate youth perspectives on biosecurity and increase youth engagement in the framework of the Biological Weapons Convention. To pursue those objectives, the Office works through a robust network of youth-led organizations and other civil society partners.
In 2022, the Office for Disarmament Affairs continued to expand the Youth for Biosecurity network by hosting the third edition of the annual Biosecurity Diplomacy Workshop, an interactive virtual training programme aimed at informing young scientists from the Global South about their critical role in biosafety and biosecurity. The Office and its partners also intensified efforts towards the meaningful participation of youth in the ninth Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference, held in late 2022. Building on the recommendations of the Youth Declaration for Biosecurity, released in 2021 by Youth for Biosecurity alumni, the Office engaged with representatives from youth organizations attending the Review Conference to collectively formulate actionable recommendations for States parties to strengthen the global biosecurity regime.
In his report entitled Our Common Agenda, issued in 2021, the Secretary-General described the need for a “New Agenda for Peace”[16] to address a myriad of challenges faced by the international community. During informal thematic consultations organized by the President of the General Assembly on the report, held in February and March 2022, the United Nations system was invited to develop a New Agenda for Peace in close consultation with Member States and in collaboration with all relevant partners.
Further to that invitation and to resolution 76/6 of 15 November 2021,[17] the Secretary-General invited civil society organizations to share their views, priorities and potential recommendations for a New Agenda for Peace. Respondents were asked to submit their ideas by 15 January 2023 in any of the six United Nations official languages.
In 2022, diplomats and other officials from 24 States[18] participated in the United Nations Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament. Established by the General Assembly in 1978 at its tenth special session,[19] the Programme is intended to promote greater expertise and train officials from Member States, in particular the developing countries, to participate more effectively in international disarmament deliberations and negotiations. The Office for Disarmament Affairs implements the Programme each year for about 25 Fellows nominated by their respective Governments. As at the end of 2022, the Programme had trained 1,076 public officials — mostly diplomats or military experts — from 170 States.[20]
The United Nations Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament was nearly back to its normal format in 2022 after its unprecedented cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A prudent, abridged version of the Programme was held in 2021 in the context of continued pandemic-related travel restrictions.
The 2022 Programme comprised a variety of theoretical activities and practical exercises. Organized into three segments, the activities included lectures and round-table debates on current disarmament topics with senior diplomats and representatives of international, regional, and civil society organizations and academia; an ambassadorial-level panel discussion on nuclear disarmament; a simulated session on a draft mandate on lethal autonomous weapon systems; and case studies on conventional weapons. The Fellows also took part in field visits to various disarmament-related locations, including nuclear reactors, laboratories, a former nuclear test site, a nuclear security facility and a controlled materials centre. Additionally, the participants viewed several introductory videos on disarmament and arms control topics and took part in online training modules prior to the Programme’s commencement.
The initial segment of the Programme, which began in Geneva on 22 August, exposed the Fellows to the work of the Conference on Disarmament and of various treaty regimes, in particular the Biological Weapons Convention (1972), the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (1980), the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (1997), the Convention on Cluster Munitions (2008) and the Arms Trade Treaty (2013). The Fellows received background information on weapons systems and their effects; learned about applicable law, in particular international humanitarian law; and took part in case-study exercises on weapons law. They also heard briefings on the following topics: the impact of new technologies on the means and methods of warfare; engagement with non-State armed groups on their legal obligations during armed conflict; the work of civil society in the field of disarmament and arms control; and the activities of the Geneva centres.[21]
During the second segment of the Programme, the Fellows participated in study visits to several international organizations, structures or arrangements related to disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. In Vienna, their destinations included the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and export control regimes such as the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In addition, the Fellows received briefings on the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and several arms-control topics by the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-proliferation. The Fellows also took part in a round-table discussion on disarmament and non-proliferation education. In The Hague, the Netherlands, the Fellows visited the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the International Criminal Court and a nuclear reactor at the Delft University of Technology. The Fellows also participated in country-specific study visits to Argentina (Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials), Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea at the invitation of their Governments, as well as to the European Union institutions in Brussels, organized by the European Union Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium.[22]
The third segment of the Programme took place in October at United Nations Headquarters in New York, where the Fellows followed the work of the First Committee of the General Assembly as well as developments related to key disarmament, non-proliferation and arms-control issues. They also participated in a simulation exercise and attended an ambassadorial-level panel discussion on nuclear disarmament. In parallel, the Fellows conducted and discussed research work on various disarmament and arms control topics.
After completing the Programme at United Nations Headquarters on 25 October, the 2022 Fellows were awarded certificates of participation by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and the Chair of the First Committee of the General Assembly.
The Scholarship for Peace and Security training programme, organized jointly by the Vienna Office and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, held its fifth iteration in 2022. A total of 152 young professionals from the Organization’s region, 85 per cent of them women, took part in an eight-week online training programme. Of those, 44 women participated in one week of training in Vienna to engage in hands-on activities; attend expert briefings; and make on-site visits to the IAEA nuclear applications laboratories in Seibersdorf, as well as the International Data Centre and a monitoring station of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Following a two-year hiatus due to pandemic-related restrictions, 2022 marked the return of the in-person component of the training. The network-oriented programme was focused on empowering young women by providing them with relevant skills and knowledge on conflict prevention and resolution through disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control.
The inaugural United Nations-Singapore Cyber Fellowship was held in August 2022 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre for Excellence. The Fellowship programme seeks to equip national authorities working on cyber strategy, policy, technology and operations with practical knowledge and skills drawing upon the United Nations-developed normative framework. More than 20 Fellows from 18 countries completed the Fellowship carried out over six days. The programme featured lectures on the current cybersecurity landscape, round-table and panel discussions on international law, cybercrime and digital diplomacy. There were also practical components, including a tabletop exercise. Two iterations of the fellowship were planned for 2023.
In 2022, the Vienna Office celebrated a milestone anniversary: 10 years of continued support to innovative partnership initiatives across all areas of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control (anniversary video). It had been providing such support through its dual role: liaison with Vienna-based and regional stakeholders in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control; and education and empowerment through outreach and dialogue, and provision of authoritative educational and training material for diverse audiences.
As part of its liaison role, the Office supported a number of multilateral processes with a Vienna-based component, including the first Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, held in Vienna from 21 to 23 June.
Acting as the disarmament education hub for the Office for Disarmament Affairs, the Vienna Office took a lead role in preparing the Disarmament Education Strategy of the wider Office. A “soft launch” was held in Vienna on 5 December with the local diplomatic community and the United Nations entities, as well as representatives of regional and civil society organizations.
Furthermore, across its areas of work, the Vienna Office sought to promote inclusive and diverse participation in disarmament processes through the empowerment of women, youth and other historically under-represented stakeholders. On that front, the Office continued its collaboration with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to implement the fifth cycle of the Scholarship for Peace and Security, a training programme targeting young professionals, primarily women.
The Vienna Office continued to maintain and further upgrade the functionalities available on the Disarmament Education Dashboard, the e-learning platform hosting different training courses across issue areas of the Office for Disarmament Affairs. In 2022, the Dashboard gained increased external and internal visibility, becoming the Office’s centralized tool for online learning.
In the area of outreach, the Vienna Office revitalized its awareness-raising activities in 2022, engaging with communities in Vienna and around the world to promote dialogue regarding various issues related to international peace and security. The Vienna Conversation Series, a recurring discussion forum launched in 2016 to address timely disarmament-related issues, was expanded to different formats in 2022 to amplify relevant priorities of the Secretary-General. Events held in 2022 included a fireside chat with Izumi Nakamitsu, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs; a podcast episode with and on youth leaders; a round-table discussion on the future of disarmament education; and an interactive panel discussion on humanitarian disarmament moderated by Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.
To further engage with non-traditional audiences, the Office participated in the Austria-wide Long Night of Research to raise awareness among the general public about the risks and opportunities of scientific and technological developments for disarmament and security, in addition to conducting interactive briefings and exchanges with diverse visitor groups.
The Vienna Office's social media presence continued to grow, including through enhanced coordination with campaigns led by Headquarters. The end-of-year video was particularly popular among followers, bringing twice the number of impressions compared with the same period the previous year.
The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) is an autonomous institution within the United Nations. The Institute's independent research and analysis, capacity-building on traditional and emerging issues, and development of tools to help all Member States implement their disarmament commitments took on extra urgency in 2022 owing to the increasingly challenging global security environment.
Under its Strategic Research Framework for 2022 to 2025, UNIDIR conducts research and provides advice on enabling and converging technologies, biological risks, space security, gender and inclusion, conflict prevention, and weapons and ammunition management. It also focuses on advancing nuclear dialogue, providing capacity-building and developing foresight on global security matters.
The Institute is organized around five multi-year programmes — on conventional arms and ammunition, weapons of mass destruction, gender and disarmament, security and technology, and space security — as well as two special projects on managing exits from armed conflict and the proposed Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction. In 2022, UNIDIR considered new issues related to the security concerns of the twenty-first century; integrated them with relevant peace, security and development priorities; and produced research and events accessible to global audiences, increasingly in multiple languages and targeting a diverse spectrum of stakeholders, particularly young people.
During the year, UNIDIR accomplished the following:
The following subsections include 2022 highlights from UNIDIR research programmes, all of which supported the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament.[23]
In 2022, under its programme on weapons of mass destruction, UNIDIR undertook research in four main areas: measures to reduce nuclear-weapon risk; new approaches to transparency and verification in nuclear security and disarmament; strengthening of the norm against chemical and biological weapons; and the future of weapons of mass destruction arms control and disarmament, particularly in light of the invasion of Ukraine.
The programme produced 20 publications, which were downloaded over 5,000 times. Those papers covered a range of topics, from international cooperation under the Biological Weapons Convention to the integration of Novichok class agents under the schedules of the Chemical Weapons Convention and innovative approaches to missile verification. The programme also organized or co-organized 21 workshops and events that reached over 1,450 participants, enabling the promotion of research findings on various research activities and facilitation of discussion on topics related to weapons of mass destruction across political borders at a time of tension. Programme experts also delivered presentations at 88 external events worldwide and undertook more than 250 media engagements.
Over the year, UNIDIR research supported work in various multilateral forums, particularly through expert input to the ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, the tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Group of Governmental Experts on nuclear disarmament verification, the First Committee of the General Assembly and the first Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In 2022, under its conventional arms and ammunition programme, UNIDIR conducted research in three priority areas: strengthening weapons and ammunition management; preventing armed conflict and armed violence; and addressing global development and security challenges. The programme supports the further development and implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty, the Programme of Action on Small Arms, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and other conventional arms and ammunition instruments. UNIDIR also provided technical advisory support to the Group of Governmental Experts on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and the Open-ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition.
UNIDIR supported weapons and ammunition baseline assessments in Benin, the Central African Republic, El Salvador and Guatemala. It released the first annual Weapons and Ammunition Management in Africa Insight, presenting challenges and good practices for strengthening policies and practices in this area. In August, UNIDIR, the Stimson Center and Conflict Armament Research launched a counter-diversion assessment tool for use by States.
UNIDIR continued its work to support Action 21 of the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament, exploring opportunities for integrating conventional arms risks into conflict analysis and prevention. New publications examined the protection of civilians and linkages between illicit arms, organized crime and armed conflict, showing how an increased understanding of arms-related risks and arms control could enhance the conflict prevention and management activities of the United Nations.
The Institute released the Second Menu of Indicators for Measuring the Reverberating Effects of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas and answers to frequently asked questions on such weapons, helping to inform the final rounds of consultations towards the adoption of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.
UNIDIR examined the impact of technology on conventional warfare and wider armed violence, releasing a report on the use of technology for remote ceasefire monitoring and verification and primers on the technological trajectories and challenges for aerial, ground and maritime uncrewed systems.
Moreover, UNIDIR delivered in-country support for the use of its Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices Self-Assessment Tool and Capability Maturity Model for Burkina Faso and the Philippines, enabling the development of national plans to enhance measures for countering improvised explosive devices.
Throughout 2022, the UNIDIR security and technology programme contributed to advancing the multilateral agenda on new and emerging technologies, particularly in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Its activities were aligned with its objectives: supporting policy and decision-making; reducing the knowledge gap on issues pertaining to new technologies and international security; and bridging communities.
The programme focused on two broad priority areas: cyber stability and artificial intelligence, including autonomous systems and their weaponization. Within each area, UNIDIR aimed to build knowledge, advance multilateral discourse and convene stakeholders who could develop new thinking on addressing international security implications and risks.
UNIDIR continued to advance the international cyber debate through the following: (a) facilitating the operationalization of norms of responsible State behaviour through research activities and multi-stakeholder dialogues; (b) further developing the UNIDIR Cyber Policy Portal; (c) supporting intergovernmental processes established by the General Assembly;[24] (d) providing research reports and events on key issues, such as attribution of cyber incidents, international cooperation to address criminal and terrorist use of information and communication technologies, and analysis and characterization of related incidents; and (e) convening the annual Cyber Stability Conference in July, with a focus on protecting critical infrastructure.[25] The programme also engaged with stakeholders across regions through the design and delivery of a series of regional table-top exercises. The series brought together more than 50 government officials from 30 different countries to explore the management of international cyber incidents at the political level.
The programme's workstream on artificial intelligence carried out original research projects and provided targeted activities to support the work of the Group of Governmental Experts on emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapon systems. It also released a paper with an analysis of the various proposals presented by States, or groups of States, to establish a normative and operational framework for lethal autonomous weapon systems, as well as identify areas of convergence and divergence. A second paper focused on human-machine interfaces in autonomous weapon systems.
In 2022, the programme also began to explore the governance of artificial intelligence more broadly. The highlight was the UNIDIR flagship Innovations Dialogue, which focused on the relevance of artificial intelligence for international peace and security. Held in New York and attended by over 2,000 participants in person and online, the conference explored not only the risks of artificial intelligence but also the governance options highlighted by approaches centred on the idea of responsible artificial intelligence. UNIDIR also conceptualized and soft-launched the Artificial Intelligence Policy Portal, a one-stop shop for information on national artificial intelligence policy and regulatory frameworks applicable to the military and defence context.
In 2022, UNIDIR work on space security garnered over 2,000 downloads of recent publications and was cited over 50 times. The programme also organized nine events, covering topics ranging from gender and space security to the role of norms in space governance. Furthermore, at more than 25 events around the world, UNIDIR delivered presentations on the topic of space security.
The programme supported both 2022 meetings of the Open-ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviours as part of the secretariat, providing multiple presentations and two working papers. It also supported the Conference on Disarmament through four expert presentations on space security-related issues.
In 2022, the UNIDIR annual flagship Outer Space Security Conference had over 1,000 participants and hosted a diverse set of cross-sectoral representatives. The programme also initiated a series of regional workshops on space security, hosting a webinar on common understandings of responsible behaviours in outer space within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region and a hybrid workshop focused on regional aspects of space security in the context of the Latin American and Caribbean States.
In the lead-up to the tenth Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, UNIDIR co-submitted a working paper with recommendations to advance gender considerations under all three pillars of the Treaty (NPT/CONF.2020/WP.54). UNIDIR then co-hosted an event on the margins of the Review Conference, bringing together diplomats, as well as experts in disarmament and in nuclear regulation, to discuss gender diversity, gender analysis and gender equality in the nuclear field. UNIDIR also co-organized an event and presented a joint working paper to the first Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, recommending actions to operationalize the gender provisions of the Treaty (TPNW/MSP/2022/WP.2). All four recommendations were reflected in the final Action Plan adopted, including appointment of a gender focal point to work during the intersessional period and development of guidelines for ensuring age- and gender-sensitive victim assistance.
To support women's participation in initiatives related to weapons of mass destruction, UNIDIR co-organized a Security Council event that aimed to bridge the gap between Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) and the women, peace and security agenda. In November, a new mandate for the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) (1540 Committee) was unanimously adopted by the Security Council through resolution 2663 (2022). For the first time, the mandate of the 1540 Committee included language encouraging the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all its activities.
Ahead of the ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, UNIDIR co-hosted a workshop to identify concrete measures to advance gender equality in biosecurity and disarmament. In collaboration with various Member States, UNIDIR also organized a photo exhibition at the Palais des Nations portraying women professionals in the field of biosecurity.
As part of its collaboration with the Swiss chapter of Women in International Security, UNIDIR convened a high-level meeting in Geneva that featured the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. In her remarks, she addressed the issue of gender bias in artificial intelligence and endorsed the UNIDIR research report Does Military AI Have Gender? (2021).
Throughout 2022, UNIDIR delivered gender briefings to national actors working on conventional arms control and disarmament. Building on UNIDIR research on Women Managing Weapons (2021), a new initiative composed of virtual and in-person workshops for women technical specialists on ammunition was set up under the auspices of the SaferGuard programme. UNIDIR contributed by delivering presentations on ammunition-related issues and the nexus between gender and armed violence.
As part of its work with the International Gender Champions Disarmament Impact Group,[26] UNIDIR launched a new fact sheet on gender and diversity in the convention on cluster munitions in partnership with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. The Impact Group also updated and distributed the fourth edition of the Gender and Disarmament Resource Pack.
The project on managing exits from armed conflict — started at the United Nations University in late 2018 — transitioned to its permanent institutional home at UNIDIR between 1 June and 31 December 2022. The project is a multi-year collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, the International Organization for Migration, the Department of Peace Operations, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Bank and the Lake Chad Basin Commission secretariat of the Regional Stabilization, Recovery and Resilience Strategy. Its aim is to develop a unified, rigorous approach to examining how and why individuals exit armed conflict. The project contributes to UNIDIR insights on “micro-disarmament” and the factors and interventions that help armed groups and individuals lay aside weapons and transition to civilian life.
In 2022, multi-method research for the project took place in Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Iraq, the Niger and Nigeria. That work included 13 different surveys with over 13,000 respondents across the six countries, more than 40 focus groups, participatory research with young people and interviews with key informants. In each country, practitioners leading disarmament, demobilization and reintegration efforts received real-time support in the form of quantitative, qualitative and experimental data collected through the project.
During its transition to UNIDIR, the project produced 16 publications highlighting its findings and their implications for policy and programming, eight of which were translated into Spanish or French to reach local stakeholder populations. Project experts organized or participated in 24 events, briefings and workshops, with more than 600 participants, to ensure that findings were shared widely with different audiences.
Through its project on a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, which is fully funded by the European Union, UNIDIR is pursuing four overarching objectives: (a) filling an important research gap on how the Middle East zone initiative has evolved, including lessons for current and future prospects; (b) building analytic capacity to support new thinking on regional security issues and the zone, including drawing on lessons from the establishment of other such zones; (c) collecting ideas and developing new proposals on how to move forward; and (d) fostering inclusive dialogue between experts and policymakers on regional security issues and the zone, which can then contribute to ongoing multilateral processes.
In 2022, project activities focused on conducting dialogues and producing research on specific topics that could contribute towards regional security and prospects for establishing a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction. UNIDIR developed a deeper understanding of the relationship between the proposed zone and recent international and regional developments, as well as building mutual confidence. This included organizing a virtual public event looking at past initiatives promoting a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction and lessons learned from those experiences. UNIDIR organized workshops in the region to deepen understanding of national positions on the zone and regional security, as well as identify bridging ideas. A report discussing the incentives, disincentives and missing incentives affecting the engagement of different regional States was published, featuring essays by eight authors from the region.
Throughout 2022, UNIDIR continued to support existing processes by drafting reports, summarizing States' positions and helping to bridge positions during regional conferences. UNIDIR also supported the fourth session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction and its intersessional Working Committee.
Separately, UNIDIR promoted discussions, produced analyses and organized round-table discussions with regional experts on issues such as chemical and biological weapons or the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the context of the proposed zone. UNIDIR also released an assessment of regional threat perceptions and perspectives regarding the inclusion of means of delivery in the process of establishing the zone.
UNIDIR continued to disseminate preliminary findings through a quarterly newsletter and briefings to stakeholders, including an event on the margins of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. In addition, programme experts authored articles entitled “The Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the IAEA General Conference: Is There a ‘Grand Strategy’ behind the IAEA Track?” in the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, and “The Middle Eastern WMD-Free Zone and the NPT” in Arms Control Today.
[1] Under the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament programme, which was launched in 2020, the Office trained 10 competitively selected Youth Champions on general principles of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control through both online courses, live webinars and in-person activities. At the same time, the Youth Champions developed and implemented projects to engage with their communities on disarmament-related issues.
[2] Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Libya, Montenegro, Pakistan, Palau, Poland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Togo, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, and Yemen.
[3] Christelle Barakat, Isa Begemann, Musa Carew, Naomi Ekpoki, Waleed Helmy, Eli Horton, Patrick Karekezi, Chaerin Kim, Mark Kim, Dilan Ezgi Koç, Su-Yin Lew, Palesa Mogorosi, Marykate Monaghan, Kirsten Mosey, Isabella Duque Muñoz, Linh Trang Phung, Ankita Sehgal, Aline Sauvegrain Tanabe, Luciana Vázquez and Harshwardhan Zala.
[4] The publication was edited by Jean Pascal Zanders. The contributing authors were the following: Kadiatou Dao, Maria J. Espona, María Garzón Maceda, Richard Guthrie, Talkmore Maruta, Robert Mathews, James Revill, Valeria Santori, Lizeka Tandwa, Ralf Trapp, John Walker and Jean Pascal Zanders.
[5] First launched in 2019, the Meetings Place website includes information on all disarmament meetings serviced by the United Nations Secretariat. The portal contains archives for meeting websites previously hosted on other United Nations websites, as well as basic entries for historical meetings. Its purpose is to make information, documents and statements for current and ongoing meetings easily accessible. The portal shares a common architecture with the Office’s Documents Library, which gives users a more robust set of tools for searching, browsing and filtering documents and statements, including across multiple meetings.
[6] By resolution 64/35 of 2 December 2009, introduced at the initiative of Kazakhstan, the General Assembly declared 29 August the International Day against Nuclear Tests to commemorate the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site on 29 August 1991. Member States and others were invited to use the Day to raise awareness about the effects of nuclear-weapon test explosions and the need to strengthen the international norm against all nuclear tests as a valuable step towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.
[7] Annex 2 States are the 44 States listed in annex 2 of the Treaty, whose ratifications of the Treaty are necessary for its entry into force.
[8] Dominica, Gambia, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu.
[9] European Union, Holy See and International Atomic Energy Agency.
[10] Marshallese Education Initiative.
[11] The International Day was established in 2013 through an initiative of the Non-Aligned Movement following the first high-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear disarmament. The initiative was advanced under General Assembly resolutions 68/32 of 5 December 2013, 69/58 of 2 December 2014, 70/34 of 7 December 2015, 71/71 of 5 December 2016, 72/251 of 24 December 2017, 73/40 of 5 December 2018, 74/54 of 12 December 2019, 75/45 of 7 December 2020, 76/36 of 6 December 2021 and 77/47 of 2022, by which the General Assembly called for immediately commencing negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a comprehensive convention on nuclear weapons, as well as for enhancing public awareness and education about the threat of nuclear weapons and the necessity of their total elimination.
[12] For the written statements, see Journal of the United Nations, “High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons” (Part 1 and Part 2), 26 September 2022. For all statements as delivered, see United Nations Web TV, “General Assembly: High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons” (Part 1 and Part 2), video, 26 September 2022.
[13] Holy See, International Committee of the Red Cross, League of Arab States and State of Palestine.
[14] International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Restless Development.
[15] Under the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament programme, which was launched in 2020, the Office trained 10 competitively selected Youth Champions on general principles of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control through both online courses, live webinars and in-person activities. At the same time, the Youth Champions developed and implemented projects to engage with their communities on disarmament-related issues.
[16] The Secretary-General noted in the report that, in order to protect and manage the global public good of peace, the international community needed a peace continuum based on a better understanding of the underlying drivers and systems of influence that were sustaining conflict, a renewed effort to agree on more effective collective security responses and a meaningful set of steps to manage emerging risks. In that respect, Our Common Agenda outlined six potential areas for the New Agenda for Peace, including, but not limited to, the following: (a) reducing strategic risks; (b) strengthening international foresight and capacities to identify and adapt to new risks; (c) reshaping responses to all forms of violence; (d) investing in prevention and peacebuilding; (e) supporting regional prevention; and (f) putting women and girls at the centre.
[17] By resolution 76/6, the General Assembly followed up on Our Common Agenda and requested the Secretary-General to inform Member States and to engage in broad and inclusive consultations with them, all parts of the United Nations system and other relevant partners on his proposals in the report for follow-up action to accelerate the full and timely implementation of the above-mentioned agreed frameworks in a comprehensive and integrated manner, and to provide regular updates to Member States.
[18] Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Libya, Montenegro, Pakistan, Palau, Poland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Togo, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, and Yemen.
[19] Pursuant to paragraph 108 of the final document (S-10/2) of the first special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, “[i]n order to promote expertise in disarmament in more Member States, particularly in the developing countries, the General Assembly decides to establish a programme of fellowships on disarmament”.
[20] Through specialized training, the Programme helped Fellows to further develop their expertise in disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation issues, as well as their understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the field of multilateral disarmament and international security. The Programme enabled former Fellows to participate more effectively in regional and global disarmament efforts and, by creating an informal world-spanning network, to work cooperatively and constructively in pursuit of disarmament and non-proliferation goals. Many former Fellows went on to hold important disarmament-related positions or responsibilities within their own Governments or in international organizations.
[21] Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.
[22] Pursuant to European Union Council Decision 2018/299/CFSP.
[23] UNIDIR provided a full account of its activities, as well as its proposed programme of work and financial plan for 2022, in the annual report of its Director to the General Assembly (A/77/144). Detailed information about specific projects of the Institute, as well as on all its research and activities, was posted on its website.
[24] In 2022, UNIDIR provided that support pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/240 establishing an Open-ended Working Group on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communications Technologies, 2021–2025. Support included advising the Chair of the Working Group during formal and informal meetings, consolidating relevant national inputs, positions and comments, and preparing draft texts.
[25] Notably, the Conference was convened in a hybrid format, combining in-person attendance in Geneva with virtual participation of speakers and audiences from around the world. The Conference report is available here.
[26] Co-chaired by the Director of UNIDIR and Ambassadors of Australia, Ireland, Namibia and the Philippines, the International Gender Champions Disarmament Impact Group seeks to promote dialogue, shared knowledge and the pursuit of concrete opportunities to advance gender-responsive action within disarmament processes.