Finding the ways to promote education and training in disarmament and non-proliferation at all levels of formal and informal education.

International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation



Recommendations to enhance efforts on relating Disarmament issues. 

Member States are encouraged to accord importance to disarmament and non-proliferation education and training in their programmes and policies, consistent with their national legislation and practices, taking into account present and future trends. They are also encouraged to use, designate or establish public advisory bodies, where appropriate, whose responsibilities include advising on disarmament and non-proliferation education and training practices. Member States are encouraged to share their experience in disarmament and non-proliferation education and training with other Member States, international organizations, civil society and the Department for Disarmament Affairs. 

Relevant United Nations offices and other international organizations and agencies should prepare, adapt and disseminate a wider range of user-friendly educational material on disarmament and non-proliferation. The current experience in this field should be tapped and existing educational material, including educational modules, resource books, guides and online programmes, should be tailored to the needs of individual countries, specific audiences or the international community at large. 

The United Nations and other international organizations should translate its disarmament and non-proliferation educational material and publications into all United Nations official languages and, when possible, into other languages for additional dissemination. Upon request by the United Nations or relevant international organizations, Member States, academic and research institutions and NGOs are encouraged to support or assist in translating relevant materials. 

 The United Nations and other international organizations should increase capacities to disseminate disarmament and non-proliferation education-related materials (print and audio-visual) more widely to all regions of the world. While strengthening existing distribution channels, they should explore new ones, such as cooperation with educational networks, teachers unions and curriculum committees as well as electronic access. Member States, local academic institutions, research centres and NGOs are also encouraged to assist in dissemination efforts. As it is essential to reach the local community level, channels of dissemination such as school libraries, gathering places, radio and television are highly recommended. 

The Department of Disarmament Affairs should gather information about the involvement of regional and intergovernmental organizations in disarmament and non-proliferation education, training and data collection activities. The Department should examine ways to foster an exchange of experiences and regional perspectives to facilitate the development of disarmament and non-proliferation education programmes. 

The Department of Disarmament Affairs should examine, accumulate and make public and easily accessible the different disarmament and non-proliferation curricula and programmes that States have developed for their formal school systems and university courses as well as for informal training. 

UNU and UPEACE are encouraged to develop intensive postgraduate and other courses on disarmament and non-proliferation for representatives of all regions of the world, including government officials, legislators, military officers, NGOs, the media and students, working in cooperation with academic and non-governmental institutions that have expertise in designing and implementing such courses. 
UPEACE, in coordination with the Department of Disarmament Affairs, may wish to host seminars and workshops as well as to develop model university and school material. 

Member States are encouraged to include parliamentarians and/or non-governmental advisers in delegations to United Nations disarmament related meetings, taking into account national legislation and practices.

The Department of Disarmament Affairs and its regional centres, in cooperation with UNIDIR, UNU and UPEACE, are encouraged to establish a virtual library of reports of “lessons learned” on disarmament-related aspects of peace operations and make it available to both Governments and NGOs on a disarmament and non-proliferation online education resource. 

Municipal leaders, working with citizen groups, are encouraged to establish peace cities, as part of the UNESCO Cities for Peace network, through, for example, the creation of peace museums, peace parks, web sites and the production of booklets on peacemakers and peacemaking.
 
UNU and UPEACE are encouraged to provide assistance to those city councils and prefectures that are willing to host seminars on disarmament and non-proliferation issues for the media, academics, local and national politicians, trade union representatives, religious leaders and the wider public. 

Religious leaders and institutions are encouraged to develop educational material promoting a culture of peace and disarmament. *

Member States, in cooperation with the United Nations and relevant international organizations, are encouraged to sponsor training, fellowships, and awareness programmes, on as wide a geographical basis as possible, for researchers, engineers, scientists and other academics in areas of particular relevance, but not limited to treaties and agreements on weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. They are also encouraged to give special emphasis to training customs, licensing and law enforcement officers for the purpose of fulfilling international obligations of Member States in the disarmament and non-proliferation fields. 

*14. The Department of Disarmament Affairs, in cooperation with UNU and UPEACE, should be encouraged to organize a programme of training for educators and trainers in disarmament and nonproliferation. These programmes may be implemented cooperatively with international organizations such as IAEA, OPCW and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. 

The Department of Disarmament Affairs, in cooperation with UNESCO, UPEACE, UNIDIR and NGOs, should produce and maintain an updated international bibliography of reference literature for teachers, including an updated directory of peace studies programmes and disarmament and non-proliferation research centres, and make this available on a disarmament and non-proliferation online education resource.

UNESCO IBE is encouraged to convene regional meetings with ministers of education, educational administrators and university presidents to discuss the issues involved in developing disarmament and non-proliferation education for primary, secondary and university students. The International Conference on Education is encouraged to devote one session of a future meeting to disarmament and nonproliferation education, for example, through a workshop on science and ethics. 

The United Nations, relevant international organizations, Member States, NGOs and research institutes should develop and strengthen programmes, workshops, fellowships and materials on disarmament and non-proliferation topics for journalists and media representatives in order to enhance their knowledge of these issues. Special attention should be paid to the development of programmes and materials designed for local media in post-conflict situations, as essential partners in the disarmament and non-proliferation education process. 

Disarmament and non-proliferation educational materials developed by the United Nations, such as the Cyberschoolbus web site, should include complementary material on how parents can encourage attitudes of peace and nonviolence. Efforts should also be made by educators, parents and the business community to devise and produce toys, computer games and videos that engender such attitudes. 

Additional fellowships and scholarships should be provided for various target audiences by or through the Department of Disarmament Affairs (directly or through its regional centres), UPEACE, UNIDIR and the NGO Committee on Disarmament, among others. An important educational supplement to disarmament and non-proliferation classroom training should be on-the-job training, which may be conducted at the sites of international organizations, national governmental agencies, NGOs and research centres. Opportunities for such on-the-job training should be expanded. 

The United Nations, relevant international organizations, Member States, and corporate and private donors are encouraged to provide assistance, including funds, educational material and equipment to NGOs in different regions of the world and to universities to establish or expand their disarmament and non-proliferation libraries with free and open public access to their resources. 

Member States should be encouraged to fund research institutes that focus on disarmament and non-proliferation and offer scholarships for advanced university students to carry out research on disarmament and non-proliferation and its pedagogy. The United Nations should make greater efforts to tap the financial resources of private enterprises in the fields of information and communications technology.

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