Newsletter May 2024
Upcoming Events
Activating a UN Special Session on Disarmament
SCRAP Weapons, SOAS University of London, Justice for All, Parliament of the World’s Religions, NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security to the UN, and the International Peace Bureau invite you to this consultation to discuss the current disarmament landscape and how as civil society we might ensure the effective implementation of the recommendations in the New Agenda for Peace, as well as the Pact for the Future.
When: Thursday 9th May 2024
Time: 2:30 pm BST/ 4.30 pm EAT
GDAMS 2024 Statement (read here)
For the ninth consecutive year, the world military expenditure rose to an all-time high of $2443 billion across all five of the geographical regions defined by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, pointing to the global deterioration in peace and security. The looming global wars and increasingly fragmented geopolitical relations reiterate our mission to activate the Fourth Special Session on Disarmament and NOW is the perfect time.
We are happy to see the acknowledgment for the UN General Assembly to commit to a final date and structure for a Fourth Special Session on Disarmament in this year’s Global Campaign on Military Spending (GDAMS) Statement and look forward to its endorsement by state parties.
Past Events
Interreligious Dialogue on Activating a Special Session on Disarmament
Continuing the conversation around the campaign for a fourth Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD-IV), SCRAP Weapons and Pax Christi organized a civil society consultation to commemorate the GDAMS 2024 and to reinvigorate discussions on the urgent need for states to consider disarmament and divestment and the potential role of civil society in realizing these goals.
Read the summary here.
Harmony in Disarmament: Upholding the Human Right to a Safe and Healthy Environment
On 26th March 2024, SCRAP Weapons with Parliament of the World’s Religions, Justice for all, the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security to the United Nations and Soka Gakkai International hosted a roundtable, titled Harmony in Disarmament: Upholding the Human Right to a Safe and Healthy Environment through a Fourth Special Session on Disarmament, to discuss the current disarmament and human rights landscapes, and the impact a Fourth Special Session on Disarmament could have on addressing threats to peace and the environment.
Read the summary here.
The New Agenda for Peace and a UN Special Session on Disarmament
The UN Secretary-General recognizes that the multilateral disarmament machinery is not producing the results expected by member states and global society. In his “New Agenda for Peace”, Antonio Guterres calls for reforming this machinery and the need to convene a special session on disarmament to consider this task. It has been 35 years since the last special session was held. Despite the general agreement that a fourth special session (SSOD IV) should be convened, the General Assembly has been caught for many years in a circular process of “consultations” absent of real progress. Co-sponsored by the Canadian Pugwash Group, SCRAP Weapons, and Oxfam, the webinar discusses the current situation, identifies ways to move off square one, and initiates actual preparations for a Fourth Special Session on Disarmament.
Watch the recording here.
ImPACT Coalition Call
Join Us!
Are you a civil society organization working on multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow? SCRAP Weapons is in the process of forming an ImPACT Coalition, an alliance of new and existing civil society that can forward our goal of reframing the debate on disarmament by urging for the activation of a Special Session on Disarmament at the UN General Assembly and forming a global constituency, which at the moment includes the International Peace Bureau, International Parliamentary Union, Oxfam, Justice for All, Parliament of World Religions, and WOVOP, among others. We hope to widen the scope of the campaign to include organizations focusing on intersecting fields, such as climate change, human rights, and gender equality.
Spotlight Stories
UN Youth Champions for Disarmament Training Program
Project Assistants Anne Cuadros Gutierrez and Monalisa Hazarika were 2 out of the 15 outstanding young leaders selected for the prestigious UN Youth Champion Training Program — an innovative learning program aimed at empowering youth to work for disarmament in their communities. Following an intensive selection process, which included the review of nearly 1,000 applications from over 128 countries, Anne and Monalisa represent the ‘Americas and the Caribbean’ and the ‘Asia and the Pacific’ region respectively. Read more about the program here.