International Day of Disarmament and Non-proliferation

The modern use of chemical weapons began with World War I, when poisonous gas was used to inflict agonizing suffering and to cause significant battlefield casualties. The results were indiscriminate and caused nearly 100,000 deaths. The first large-scale use of chemical weapons occurred in Ieper, Belgium, in 1915. Since then, disarmament efforts have worked to ban such weapons from the world. In 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force. It prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It also requires destruction of its production facilities, along with the weapons themselves. In this photo, dated on the occasion of the Centennial Commemoration of the First Large-Scale Use of Chemical Weapons at Ieper in 2015, the OPCW Member States issued the Ieper Declaration restating their commitment to combat chemical weapons. The United States of America completed the destruction of its declared chemical weapons stockpile in 2023, resulting in 1...

 Biological weapons disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals, or plants. They can be deadly and highly contagious. Diseases caused by biological weapons would not confine themselves to national borders and could spread rapidly around the world. In the 20th century, use of biological weapons was seen by individuals and groups committing criminal acts or targeted assassinations, biological warfare by States , and the accidental release of pathogens from laboratories. In 1975, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) entered into force. It effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. As such, the BWC is a key element in the international community’s efforts to address Weapon of Mass Destruction proliferation and has established a strong norm against biologicalweapons.   This photo shows Youth4Biosecurity Fellows visiting the Spiez Laboratory in 2024. This Sw...

  A safe environment now prevails, which should enable teaching to resume smoothly, thanks to the nimble and proactive creation of aweapons-free zone . The zone reduces the risk of violence and improves UNMISS' ability to patrol and provide security . Several villagers have worked in collaboration with the UN mission to maintain this zone by cutting the long grass where weapons were sometimes hidden, giving them a stake in the project and securing their own safety while also contributing to their incomes. After the establishment of the weapon-free-zone, a 90% drop in crime was recorded These students are photographed at the opening ceremony for the Queen's Nursery and Primary School located inside the Weapons Free Zone to the east of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) . A 200 metrewide weapons-free zone was set up outside the perimeter of the UN protection site for civilians in Juba, where tensions had risen over scarce resources, with violent incidents occurr...

  In 1945, two nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing these famous nuclear clouds above the cities. Since then, the world has worked towards the elimination of theseweapons of mass destruction . The Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons(NPT) was signed in the midst of the Cold War. It is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology , as well as to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and to advance nuclear disarmament . Though modernization of such weapons has continued, and their destructive power has increased, the world has significantly reduced its nuclear arsenals since the Cold War. Nuclear disarmament , nonproliferation and arms control is made up of a web of multilateral, regional, and bilateral treaties and agreements. "Good Defeats Evil" is a bronze sculpture by Soviet/Russian painter and sculptor Zurab Tsereteli (1934 – ) who is well-known for lar...

  Small arms , a weapon category that encompasses firearms , are particularly harmful because they are easy to acquire, transport, and use, making them a significant factor in armed violence worldwide. The illicit trade in small arms fuels conflict, organized crime, terrorism, and human rights abuses, and it poses challenges to sustainable development. In 2001, States adopted the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). Under the PoA, governments agreed to improve national small arms laws, import/export controls, and stockpile management, and to engage in cooperation and assistance. Additionally, in 2014 the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) entered into force, establishing international standards governing arms transfers to prevent and eradicate illicit trade and diversion of conventional arms . An art exhibition entitled " Crush the Illicit Trade in Small Arms " was held at UN Headquarters in ...

  An unexploded bomb sits ominously on the floor of a kitchen in Ajdabiya, Libya. Armed conflicts are increasingly fought in population centres. This urbanization of armed conflict has resulted in devastating and well documented impacts on civilians. This is often due to the use of weapons systems that are designed for traditional open battlefields. A leading concern is the use in populated areas of explosive weapons with wide-area impacts. These include weapon systems, munitions and tactics used by States and non-State actors, which can be expected to result in a high proportion of incidental civilian harm if employed in areas where there is a concentration of civilians. In November 2022, more than 80 States endorsed the Political Declaration on the Protection ofCivilians from the Use of ExplosiveWeapons in Populated Areas . The Declaration is the product of nearly seven years of discussions and negotiations, led by Austria and Ireland with the support of non-governmental or...

The photo depicts survivors of the Hiroshima bomb who have received medical care. A few weeks after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other organizations began documenting the effects of the nuclear explosions on human health , the environment, and medical infrastructure. Since then, the various humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons have been well established. or example, physicians project that some 2.4 million people worldwide will eventually die from cancers due to atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1980 . For example, physicians project that some 2.4 million people worldwide will eventually die from cancers due to atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1980. On the environmental front, nuclear war would mean a climate disruption with devastating consequences. The world would fall under a nuclear winter and be subject to a deadly global famine, as well as exacerba...

The United Nations definition provided above is from Protocol V of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons but does not include any reference to explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the form of improvised explosive devices . ‘Explosive remnants of war’ is a catchall term for any explosive ordnance that remains unexploded and abandoned following the cessation of conflict. An explosive ordnance may be considered ‘unexploded’ or ‘abandoned’ if it has been “primed, fused, armed, or otherwise prepared for use […] in an armed conflict” prior to being “left behind or dumped by a party to an armed conflict”. Cluster munitions are an example of ERW and have a long history of conventional use by state actors during warfare. They are “designed to cover an area with explosive force” and have been used in warfare since the Second World War. A cluster munition produces damage by exploding a single projectile, which fragments into a number of smaller explosive ordnance, which then detonate ov...

UXOs are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, etc.) that did not explode when they were used. They still pose a risk of detonation , potentially many decades after they were used or discarded. In 2003, States Parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons adopted a Protocol V onExplosive Remnants of War . It recognizes the serious post-conflict humanitarian problems caused by explosive remnants of war and addresses post-conflict remedial measures to minimize their occurrence, effects, and risk.  The Protocol forms an important element in the efforts to end the post-conflict death, injury, and suffering that is a regular feature of modern warfare . In 1981, Kornelius Johann Sigmundsson, Iceland's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, signed a new convention against inhumane conventional weapons as the Chief of the UN Treaty Section looks on. The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons aims to ban or restrict the use ofspecific types...

Disarmament is at the Heart of the United Nations objectives. Weapons of mass destruction , in particular  nuclear weapons , continue to be of primary concern, due to the existential threat they pose to humanity. The accumulation and illicit trafficking in conventional weapons jeopardize international peace and security and sustainable development, while the use of explosive weapons in populated areas  endangers civilian lives and infrastructure. New and emerging weapon technologies , such as lethal autonomous weapons , further risk imperiling global security  The United Nations General Assembly met for the first time in 1946, in Central Hall on Parliament Square in London. The image depicts UK Prime Minister Clement Attlee, addressing the opening session. Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations , the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations. Its very first r...