Assessing contemporary disarmament and non-proliferation education and training in all the regions of the world.

Underscore the urgent need for disarmament and arms control in a world where military spending continues to soar while peace initiatives remain woefully underfunded.


The tenth special session of the GeneralAssembly in 1978, the first special session devoted to disarmament, was the first international forum to declare that disarmament education was urgent. The Final Document of the Tenth Special Session emphasized the importance of two aspects of education, teaching and research in shaping the future of disarmament. It urged governmental, nongovernmental and international institutions, in particular the UNESCO, ìto take steps to develop programmes of education for disarmament and peace studies at all levels.

 At the tenth special session the General Assembly set up the United Nations Disarmament Fellowship Programme, aimed at developing knowledge and expertise on disarmament and non-proliferation issuesin Member States. The programme has trained more than 550 officials, most often from ministries of foreign affairs, from approximately 150 countries in the essentials of multilateral disarmament and arms control. 

 The UNESCO World Congress on DisarmamentEducation (1980) also adopted a Final Document with numerous recommendations on measures to promote both research and education in disarmament. While little progress was made on their implementation, many of those recommendations remain applicable today, but must be adapted to present and evolving circumstances. 

The United Nations World DisarmamentCampaign was launched on 7 June 1982 pursuant to a decision of the General Assembly at its second special session devoted to disarmament. It was designed to inform, educate and to generate public understanding and support for the objectives of the United Nations inthe field of arms limitation and disarmament. It envisaged the cooperation of the United Nations, its Member States and NGOs as major actors in achieving its objectives. The campaign was divided into five major areas: preparation and dissemination of materials; conferences, seminars and training; special events such as Disarmament Week; a publicity programme; and the services of the United Nations field offices. In 1992, the campaign was converted into the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme, maintaining the same objectives, but on a more limited financial basis.

In 1999, the United Nations established the International Year for the Culture of Peace, which was extended in 2000 to an International Decade for theCulture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children ofthe World. A primary tool for fostering a culture of peace is the promotion of educational curricula on peaceful conflict resolution, dialogue, consensus building and active non-violence. The General Assembly declared the year 2001 the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, encouraging Governments, the United Nations system and other relevant international and non-governmental organizations to implement cultural, educational and social programmes to promote the concept. 

Work of the Expert Group

  In order to contribute to assessing contemporary disarmament and non-proliferation education and training in all the regions of the world, the Group of Experts requested the Department for DisarmamentAffairs to conduct a qualitative survey among States, academic research institutions and NGOs. Replies were received from Governments and government institutions of 25 States. Information was also received from 72 educational and research institutions, academic experts, NGO representatives and museums in 41 States. The Expert Group initiated and benefited from unprecedented collaboration with civil society groups and individuals, ranging from secondary school teachers to peer educators, from community activists to visual artists, academics and practitioners. By sharing their expertise and promoting synergy between the United Nations and civil society efforts, the invited participants introduced the experts to a wide range of methods and materials regarding disarmament and nonproliferation education and training. Some general conclusions about the current situation of disarmament and non-proliferation education and training can be drawn based on the collective experience of the experts, the presentations made by educators, researchers and representatives of NGOs to the sessions of the Group of Experts and the qualitative results of the survey. A variety of resource materials on disarmament and non-proliferation are already available, most of which, however, is aimed at an informed audience and needs to be adapted for various audiences, customs and situations. Much of the material also needs to be translated from English into United Nations official and other languages. Attention needs to be paid to creating a foundation for sustainable international cooperation in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation education and training among and between Member States, NGOs and the expert community from all regions of the world. Some academic institutes and NGOs active in this field are promoting this noteworthy objective, including through a proposal for the establishment of an international consortium of scholars and representatives of civil society, to work inparallel with and as a complement to internationaldisarmament and non-proliferation efforts.


Every two minutes, somewhere in the world, a life is tragically cut short by a firearm.


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