UNIS/SGSM/1301
2 March 2023
On this first-ever International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, the global community gathers around a fundamental conviction.
Nuclear, chemical, biological, and unpredictable autonomous and other indiscriminate weapon systems have no place in our world.
Yet today, these and other threats continue to menace humanity, with record levels of military spending, rising mistrust, and geopolitical tensions that, left unchecked, could spiral into even greater conflict.
In particular, the number of nuclear weapons held in stockpiles around the world remains at around 13,000 — more than enough to destroy our planet many times over at a time when risk of use is at its highest since the Cold War.
On this important day, I call on all partners — from governments and academia, to media, civil society groups, industry, and young people — to turn up the volume on this collective emergency and raise awareness about the critical importance of disarmament and non-proliferation to humanity’s future.
I also urge leaders to take steps to strengthen the global disarmament and non-proliferation regime — including the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons — and support a New Agenda for Peace with a reinvigorated vision for disarmament.
Disarmament and non-proliferation are investments in peace.
They are investments in our future.
Let’s end these threats before they end us.
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Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 May 2025.
Journalists are invited to cover the 34th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) to be held from 19 to 23 May in Vienna, Austria.
"On this Day of Vesak, I extend my warmest wishes to Buddhists worldwide as they commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha." — António Guterres
"In a world plagued by conflict and division, World Press Freedom Day highlights a fundamental truth: Freedom for people depends on freedom of the press." — António Guterres
