Newsletter April 2025
SCRAP at the United Nations
On March 17, SCRAP Weapons’ Consultant Monalisa Hazarika addressed “PANEL 1: Beyond the Barrel” of the Joint UNGA and ECOSOC high-level meeting on “Small Arms and Light Weapons Control for Preventing Violence and Advancing Sustainable Development”.
As UN Office for Disarmament Affairs’ Youth Champion for Disarmament, she reflected on the “individual destruction” caused by small arms and light weapons given their cross-sectoral and mutually exacerbating relation with organized crime, terrorism, gender inequality, and human rights violations, alongside distinguished experts Rachel Stohl, Senior Vice President at Stimson Center and H.E. Ambassador Brian Wallace, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations.
On 2-3 April, SCRAP Weapons’ Consutant Monalisa Hazarika participated in the “Seperate Agendas Common Objectives: Lessons Learned and Opportunities from the progressive harmonization of Small Arms Control and Women, Peace, and Security” informal regional meeting organised by the UN Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament (UNRCPD) in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Monalisa shared excerpts from her research on the craft production of small arms and light weapons and highlighted the steady convergence of emerging technology in the weapons manufacturing space, with regard to 3D printing.
News and Updates
The Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) took place from 3 to 7 March 2025 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, with H.E. Ambassador Akan Rakhmetullin (Kazakhstan) serving as President.
The meeting concluded by adopting a Political Declaration and Package of Decisions, including setting the date for the first TPNW Review Conference, 30 November–4 December 2026, at United Nations Headquarters in New York.