Newsletter July 2023
NEW AGENDA FOR PEACE CALLS FOR THE CONVENING OF A SPECIAL SESSION ON DISARMAMENT
On July 18th, UN Secretary General, António Guterres, released the long awaited New Agenda for Peace. SCRAP Weapons is delighted to announce the policy brief has recognised the need for a special session on disarmament (SSOD) at the UN General Assembly, stating on page 31: “establish an intergovernmental process to discuss how to … consider the role, timing and preparations of a special session of the General Assembly on disarmament.”
The activation of an SSOD has been the goal of SCRAP Weapons since December 2021. Its inclusion in the New Agenda for Peace is warmly welcomed.
Publications
An article by SCRAP Weapons’ Project Coordinator, Eloisa Romani and Consultant, Zahraa Kapasi was published in The Conversation discussing the need for a Special Session on Disarmament, particularly in our current political climate. To read the article click here.
SCRAP Weapons’ Project Assistants Monalisa Hazarika and Vanessa Canola co-authored articles as part of their roles in BASIC’s Emerging Voices Network. Titled ‘Beyond the Echo Chamber: Creating a More Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive Nuclear Weapons Policy Field,’ and ‘The Supporting Role of the Military Industrial Complex to Nuclear Weapons: A Case Study on the United States from Cultural, Political and Economic Perspectives‘ respectively, you can read the full publication here.
Spotlight
Project Assistant, Gurpreet Kaur, featured on The CRSV Observatory Podcast hosted by The Gender Security Project, where she spoke about the nexus between weapons and conflict-related sexual violence.
Project Assistant, James Luk attended a bootcamp on data privacy hosted by Youth for Privacy and the Data Values Project, where he discussed bridging the gap between privacy, AI and disarmament. You can see more about the event here.