Youth representation and the meaningful participation of young people in global decision-making is more critical than ever. Yet, despite this vast demographic presence, young voices are not well represented at the United Nations, especially in the United Nations General Assembly First Committee, where issues related to disarmament and international security are discussed. To address this gap, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), together with the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, brought ten of the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament on a study trip to United Nations Headquarters in New York from October 21 to 25.
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As part of the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament Training Programme, all participants were given the opportunity to create their own project to connect with other young people.
Disarmament is critical to the United Nations’ mission for a peaceful world. As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, described, it is the "DNA of the United Nations." From threats to use nuclear weapons being thrown around to guns fueling armed conflict, the threat that all weapons pose to humanity has never been greater since the Cold War. 5 March 2024 marked the second International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness (IDDNPA). It is fitting, then, that the first webinar for the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament training programme was held just a day before.
How does gender intersect with disarmament? Frankly, prior to my involvement with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), my understanding of this link was hazy. Yet, delving into disarmament issues through a gender perspective unveils a trove of previously undiscovered insights.
On 14 February 2024, with the strong support from my colleague Ida Scarpino, I was invited by the Prajnya Trust to give a lecture on Gender and Disarmament as part of the February 2024 edition of the Peace and Gender Lunchtime Lecture series. With this post, I would also like to share some of my findings with you.
For our second webinar, the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament came together to learn more about the first pillar of the UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament - 'Disarmament to Save Humanity' – and our role to support efforts to create a safer, more peaceful future for a
The Russian Federation’s aggression in Ukraine remains one of the biggest threats to international peace and security. As geopolitical tensions and nuclear risk continue to rise, young people have a duty to educate themselves on the risk of nuclear catastrophe and help create solutions to achieve and safeguard international peace and security
Countries have long looked to outer space to demonstrate their technological and industrial competitiveness, but the arrival of new actors is making its future increasingly complex and uncertain. It is our generation’s responsibility to help define the principles that will maintain a peaceful, secure, and sustainable outer space.
Over the past three years, I have been introduced to the beautifully challenging world of disarmament.
Above all, every disarmament activity has caused me to visualize Hiroshima and Nagasaki on those two dreadful days, 6 and 9 August 1945. Working with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and Peace Boat US, I have been able to listen to the testimonials of many Hibakusha. Remembering their stories allows me to wake up in the morning with a rejuvenated passion for this field.
Almost three years later, I found myself in Hiroshima through the 2022 Hiroshima-ICAN Academy, bringing my disarmament journey full circle. The academy provided the perfect ending for 2022, helping me mark the beginning of a new year by recommitting to persevere in our disarmament efforts.
I’m Musa Carew, a #Leader4Tomorrow with the #Youth4Disarmament Initiative, and both founder and Team Lead of Peace Drive, an organization that provides tools, and development tips to youth, and community based organizations on how to localize the Sustainable Development Goals in our various communities; especially in (post-) conflict zones where people struggle to maintain their fundamental right of human dignity.
Ahead of the first Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Peace Drive organized a workshop in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 15 June 2022, for 60 young persons.
As students in our twenties working in the nuclear non-proliferation field, we’re well aware that only a handful of our peers in “Generation Z” have a solid understanding of the issues that we’re addressing. While great resources on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are available to those who seek them out, our field could be doing more to inspire young people to pursue these vital causes to secure a peaceful future.
December 2018. I am planning my summer vacation like any other year. I turn on the television, and I see the headline: "Hantavirus outbreak in Southern Argentina". Hantavirus is a zoonotic disease transmitted from rodents to humans. The difference with this strain is that it is transmitted from person to person, facilitating the spread of the virus. Over the course of several days, people of all ages begin to die. As fear grips the inhabitants of the southern cities, misinformation starts to spread through the media. December 2019. It seems that the month of December is destined not to be quiet. The name “Coronavirus” begins to resonate. At the beginning, all the samples from the country were processed at the Malbran Institute in Buenos Aires, the National Reference Laboratory. Wouldn't it be easier if other laboratories over the country processed the samples as well? The answer is yes, of course. However, the necessary biosafety and biosecurity conditions to manipulate the samples and carry out the diagnoses were only found in the Malbran Institute. As the number of cases increased, reaching all Provinces, it became necessary to decentralize the diagnoses in order to have a faster response to the pandemic.
There my work began.
My big turning point came in July 2015, when I saw a YouTube video about victims of antipersonnel landmines in Afghanistan.
Disturbed by what I learned, I began to develop a drone I hoped could one day save lives by detonating landmines remotely.
That landmine-destroying drone, an idea that started in my imagination, is now a real product with multiple patents. When I began working on it, I was 12 years old.
I was just 10, though, when I built my first invention: a remote control I used to operate appliances around my home in Ahmedabad, India. My parents, recognizing my keen interest in electronics and technology, encouraged me to take my passion further.
I took a deep breath and began reading my speech, starting from its first sentence:
“Today, I am standing here as a youth who is anxious about our future. The unceasing spread of the COVID-19, the increasing poverty, climate change, the ongoing human rights abuses around the world… In the time of the deepening uncertainty, we are now also facing the rapid development of the lethal autonomous weapons system, the so-called ‘killer robot.’”
It was 12 December 2020, and I was at the office of Human Rights Watch in Tokyo, attending the online Global Youth Conference on Fully Autonomous Weapons. Just like 19 other youth speakers who joined from around the world, I was speaking out, in front of my laptop, to raise the torch of hope for a better future.
As a Colombian, I grew up in a nation marked by violence and armed conflict. These matters seized my interest from a very young age; learning about them felt vital to understanding my country and the factors that drive conflicts around the world.
In 2016, Colombia signed a historic peace agreement and began a process of laying down arms. Witnessing these developments confirmed my passion for issues of peace, security and disarmament, as well as development in emerging countries. I wanted to get involved and make my own contribution.
But when I moved to France in 2019 to pursue my master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy, I discovered that the competition for opportunities can be fierce. As I applied for internships around the world, I faced questions and concerns not just about my lack of related professional experience, but also about my status as a young Latin American woman.
On the morning of 6 August 2020, I was in Hiroshima. Sitting in the lobby of my hotel, enjoying my breakfast, I looked out of a window at the Motoyasu River.
What a beautiful morning, I thought to myself.
Then the wall clock suddenly caught my attention. It was 8:15 a.m.—75 years to the minute after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city.
Turning back to the window, I saw an ordinary airplane in the sky.
My heart skipped a beat. I said to myself, “I do not want to be a hibakusha 2.0.”
I remembered how the bomb had fallen towards Hiroshima for 40 seconds. In 40 seconds, it changed the course of history for Japan and the rest of the world.
Observing the UN 75 Hiroshima Conference a few weeks later, I decided for myself, I will do everything I can never to let such a bombing happen again.
The existential threat of nuclear conflict can sometimes overshadow subtler risks. For young people, especially, a lack of clear and accurate information can obscure the potentially serious implications of nuclear and other arms-related challenges for our day-to-day lives. Yet, for me, the potential consequences are too grave not to act.
A flurry of greetings – “Good morning, good afternoon, good evening” –seems to be a new mainstay of the COVID-19 era, as participants in international conferences log on from time zones around the world.
On 27 October, the 10 UN Youth Champions for Disarmament gathered online for our last official training session.
How can we make more young people aware of the importance of disarmament?
This year has shifted many of our lives into virtual reality. Handshakes have been replaced with emails, friendly catch-ups with cyber get-togethers, and traditional in-person exchanges with a procession of online activities.
This new virtual world can feel overwhelmingly isolating at times, but another side of it emerged when the #Youth4Disarmament initiative recently celebrated the winners of its #75Words4Disarmament Youth Challenge. On 26 October, young people from around the world came together to share their thoughts and feelings about a common goal—disarmament.
If you’re young like me and eager to help save our planet, starting out can feel a little daunting. That is why I would like to explain how I found a job working each day for a safer and more secure world.
A lot of young people want to contribute towards peace, and that passion leads us all in different directions. In my case, it led to earning a master’s degree in Strategic Studies and Energy Security—a path of study where I could explore nuclear issues, the peaceful benefits of atomic energy, and the risks of related technology being misused.
They stood for thirty minutes in silence before singing "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", followed by a song for women's freedom:
Wathint' abafazi,
wathint' imbokodo, uza kufa!
(When you strike the women, you strike a rock,
you will be crushed!)
This 1956 rallying call from the Women’s March in South Africa reminds us of women’s political power. But in the debate for disarmament, where are all the women?
On 14 September 2020, the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament attended a meeting between the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and civil society advocates working on many of the same issues.
After watching a UN ceremony commemorating the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, the UN Youth Champions for Disarmament had a valuable opportunity to learn from two UNODA staff members about the 21st-century challenges and implications of conventional weapons, including their relationship with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
To start the discussion, Ms. Katherine Prizeman of UNODA’s Conventional Arms Branch talked about the use and risks of explosive weapons in populated areas. She also explained how the UN is responding to this issue under the Secretary-General's Agenda for Disarmament.
The UN Youth Champions for Disarmament recently had an opportunity to learn from two members of UNODA’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Branch. They reminded us that we can reshape the world if we work together to free it from nuclear, biological and chemical arms.
On August 6, 2020, the world commemorated the 75th Hiroshima Day, remembering the victims of the atomic bombing of the city on August 6, 1945. To recognize the 75th anniversary, Hiroshima-ICAN Academy hosted the live webinar, “Path Forward for Nuclear Disarmament”.
It is not every day that one gets to talk to a retired Senior Political Affairs Officer at the UN who is also the main trumpet in the UN Symphony Orchestra! Therefore, we youth champions were looking forward to the fireside chat with Dr. Randy Rydell.
Meeting virtually for the first time, the group tackled subjects ranging from new technologies and nuclear threat, to the urbanisation of conflict and the engagement of young people, highlighted under “A New Era of Conflict and Violence”as part of the ongoing UN75 effort.