Disarmament
United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2019: Part II
Nov 2020This publication summarizes developments and trends in 2019 on key issues of multilateral consideration at the international and regional levels. It reviews the activity of the General Assembly the Conference on Disarmament and the Disarmament Commission. It contains a timeline that highlights events in multilateral disarmament in 2019. Comprises a foreword written by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
Biological and chemical weapons
Nov 2020High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu delivering a statement at the twenty-fourth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Conference was held at the World Forum The Hague Netherlands from 25 to 29 November 2019.
Disarmament resolutions and decisions listed by chapter
Nov 2020A view of the gavel that was handed over from María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly to Tijjani Muhammad-Bande President of the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly after the closing plenary meeting of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly 16 September 2019.
Conventional weapons
Nov 2020Explosive remnants of war found close to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan compound in Juba for destruction by the United Nations Mine Action Service 20 March 2019.
Disarmament machinery
Nov 2020Tatiana Valovaya (left) Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament speaks with Izumi Nakamitsu High Representative for Disarmament Affairs during the third part of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva 26 August 2019.
Emerging, cross-cutting and other issues
Nov 2020A view of the panellists at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research 2019 Innovations Dialogue themed “Digital Technologies and International Security” which was held in Geneva on 19 August.
Regional disarmament
Nov 2020At the Firearms and Ammunition Evidence Management Course at La Paz El Salvador from 2 to 4 December 2019 where 25 participants received theoretical and practical training in firearm and ammunition identification and guidelines. The course also covered good practices for ensuring the competent management of crime scenes evidence processing and analysis as well as the correct utilization of the chain-of-custody system among other useful tools to strengthen the investigation process and intelligence related to cases involving firearms and ammunition.
Information and outreach
Nov 2020Participants of the event “Youth Champions for Securing our Common Future” organized by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the non-governmental organization Peace Boat. The event held in New York on 11 October 2019 was part of the Youth4Disarmament initiative and featured keynote speakers educational panel discussions workshops and musical performances. The participating “Youth Champions” had the opportunity to engage with United Nations officials diplomats and civil society representatives working towards disarmament worldwide.
Foreword
Nov 2020Welcome to Part II of the 2019 United Nations Disarmament Yearbook. Prepared each year at the request of the General Assembly the Yearbook offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide to recent developments and trends in the field of multilateral disarmament non-proliferation and arms control.
Status of multilateral arms regulation and disarmament agreements
Nov 2020Secretary-General António Guterres is handed the joint ministerial declaration from the Stockholm Ministerial Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament and the Non-Proliferation Treaty Stockholm 26 September 2019.
Gender and disarmament
Nov 2020Mine clearance in Mozambique by the Norwegian People’s Aid 6 November 2019.
Acknowledgements
Nov 2020Volume 44 (Part II) of the United Nations Disarmament Yearbook like editions before it was a collaborative endeavour to which the staff of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs devoted considerable time and effort. It was prepared under the overall direction of the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and the Director of the Office Thomas Markram.
UNODA Occasional Papers No. 36
Sep 2020This paper offers a preliminary analysis of the effects of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the ammunition management sector in the spring of 2020. It raises key issues related to the risks associated with conventional ammunition through the implementation of relevant control and management measures. It argues that shifts in national priorities and reduced resources may affect overall international disarmament efforts by undermining the management of conventional ammunition and potentially enhance the risks of accidental explosions and diversion. Ammunition management needs to remain a priority during and after COVID-19.
UNODA Occasional Papers No. 35
Jun 2020This publication addresses the issue of military spending from various angles by examining the impact of military expenditures on security; the relationship between military spending and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the importance of gender perspectives in rethinking unconstrained military spending; and lessons learned from economic conversion movements. It has been published in support of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament to encourage renewed research and analysis on the relationship between military spending and economic and social development.
Foreword
The United Nations Charter reflects an explicit understanding of the relationship between disarmament and development in its call for the “least diversion of the world’s economic and human resources to armaments”. Yet despite this longstanding insight countries have continued to spend more on their militaries recently bringing global military expenditure to its highest level since the end of the cold war.
From swords to ploughshares: Lessons learned from conversion movements
After the Second World War the normal cycle of war preparation followed by disarmament was broken as the two post-war superpowers committed themselves to a new cold war arms race. Many private companies that had converted their operations to supply the world war now found it more lucrative to sidestep the return to civilian production and begin supplying the escalating demands of the cold war. Some 75 years later the private interests thriving on continuous war preparation are still thwarting progress towards a less militarized world.
How unconstrained military spending harms international security
The world devoted an estimated $1822 billion to its militaries in 2018 according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Yet that staggering figure is probably still an underestimate as it excludes countries for which comparable estimates are impossible such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and a significant amount of spending that countries have not disclosed.
Military spending and the achievement of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a grand enterprise with 17 Sustainable Development Goals that include ending poverty improving health and education achieving gender equality reducing inequality tackling climate change and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies. Those aims while admirable represent a herculean undertaking: the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries will cost about $2.5 trillion per year. Yet as Governments around the world express commitment to pursuing the Goals global military spending is at its highest since the cold war absorbing a significant share of the financial resources that could instead be used to directly promote sustainable development. Achieving the Goals will demand rethinking the size and opportunity costs of those military expenditures.