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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"The ocean is the foundation of life. It supplies the air we breathe and food we eat. It regulates our climate and weather. The ocean is our planet’s greatest reservoir of biodiversity. Its resources sustain communities, prosperity and human health around the world. Humanity counts on the ocean. But can the ocean count on us?" — António Guterres
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have launched a new database listing current and past projects from space agencies in support of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) have announced their collaboration under the Space Law for New Space Actors project.
The Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, will brief the media following an Executive Briefing to Member States at the Vienna International Centre. Mr Lazzarini will share updates on the challenges faced in UNRWA’s five fields of operations, including the impact of recurrent financial constraints on the lives of Palestine refugees.
