Securing Our Common Future – An Agenda for Disarmament
Seoul Stage for Student Discussions on Disarmament and the SDGs
The Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD), in cooperation with the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), conducted a student-focused hybrid webinar event on disarmament and non-proliferation education. More than 50 students from the Republic of Korea joined the event, which was held at UNESCO in Seoul, on 5 November.
32 university students joined the event in person to discuss disarmament and non-proliferation.
Key speakers included Mr. Aaron Junhoung Yoo, Officer-in-Charge and Mr. Steven Humphries, Project Manager at UNRCPD. They delivered presentations introducing the core concepts of disarmament and the key instruments outlined in the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament, as well as on the relationship between disarmament and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Securing Our Common Future – An Agenda for Disarmament was the backdrop against which the UNRCPD personnel explained the core concepts of disarmament and non-proliferation to the students in attendance. The lecture focused on the four pillars of the disarmament agenda, namely:
- Disarmament to save humanity
- Disarmament that saves lives
- Disarmament for future generations; and
- Strengthening partnerships for disarmament.
In this framework, the presenters covered the key disarmament instruments spanning WMD, conventional arms control, science and technology, and disarmament education, as well as the work that UNODA and its Regional Centres are doing to address them. These issues were further contextualized from a regional perspective, where their respective challenges in Asia-Pacific were elaborated.
The link between security and development is well illustrated by the global goals, which essentially recognize that only peaceful societies will achieve their desired level of sustainable development. While most obviously evident in Goal 16, which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions, adequate arms regulations are also relevant for successfully fulfilling other goals, including gender equality, safe and sustainable cities, economic growth, and quality education.
A slide presented during the lecture highlighting how disarmament is connected to the SDGs
Following the presentations, the participants engaged in a lively Q&A, asking questions on wide-ranging topics, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferations of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), transparency in military expenditure reporting, as well as the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Mr. Aaron Junhoung Yoo began the seminar by presenting an introduction to disarmament in the context of the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament