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|
Date |
Theme |
Speakers |
| 28-29 January 2010 |
Working on Disarmament & Arms Control in Geneva: An Orientation for
Diplomats This orientation seminar convened newly arrived diplomats and other interested officials for a briefing on the genesis, development, current status, and future challenges facing multilateral action in several areas of disarmament and arms control. Leading experts provided concise presentations on issues related to: - Conference on Disarmament - Nuclear disarmament - Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention - Outer Space - Arms Trade Treaty - Small Arms and Light Weapons - Anti-Personnel Mines - Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (or ‘Inhumane Weapons Convention’) - Cluster Munitions The seminar –held over two half-days –provided essential background information with an opportunity to meet and interact with a range of key actors from the United Nations, international organisations, NGOs, and academic institutions. |
Co-Chairs: David Atwood, QUNO Keith Krause, CCDP Speakers: Kerry Brinkert, Implementation Support Unit (ISU), Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
Silvia Cattaneo, Coordinator, Geneva Forum Tim Caughley, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Tamar Gabelnick, International Campaign to Ban Landmines Theresa Hitchens, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Richard Lennane, Implementation Support Unit of the BWC
Lou Maresca, International Committee of the Red Cross
Patrick Mc Carthy, United Nations Coordinating Action on Small Arms Jarmo Sarevo, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, Geneva Branch |
| 28 September 2009 |
Explosive Violence: The Problem of
Explosive Weapons In his May 2009 report on the Protection of Civilians, the UN Secretary-General expressed increasing concern at the humanitarian impact of explosive weapons – noting in particular the severe and indiscriminate effects of certain explosive weapons when used in densely populated areas. From air strikes in Afghanistan and Georgia, to artillery attacks in Gaza and car-bombs in Baghdad, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is a consistent cause of severe civilian suffering. The direct deaths and injuries in such attacks are likely to be in the tens of thousands each year, and these are augmented by related patterns of psychological harm and social and economic losses. In addition, there are further indirect costs that come from damage to infrastructure and the ongoing threat of munitions left unexploded. In occasion of the publication of the report, “Explosive Violence”, the Geneva Forum organized this briefing that explored some of the key issues relating to the practice of using such weapons, and posed critical questions around when, where and amongst whom the use of explosive weapons is held to be acceptable. |
Chair: John Borrie, Senior Researcher & Project Manager, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
Speakers: Richard Moyes, Policy and Research Director, Landmine Action
Christina Wille, Co-Director, Security Insight Project
|
| 26 January 2009 |
Working on Disarmament & Arms Control
in Geneva: An Orientation for Diplomats This orientation seminar convened newly arrived diplomats and other interested officials for a briefing on the genesis, development, current status, and future challenges facing multilateral action in several areas of disarmament and arms control. Leading experts provided concise presentations on issues related to: - The Conference on Disarmament - The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention - The Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention - The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (or ‘Inhumane Weapons Convention’) - The Convention on Cluster Munitions - The Arms Trade Treaty - The UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons - The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development This seminar provided essential background information with an opportunity to meet and interact with a range of key actors from the United Nations, international organisations, NGOs, and academic institutions. |
Chairs: David Atwood, Director, QUNO Keith Krause, Director, CCDP Speakers: Jozef Goldblat, Vice-President, Geneva International Peace Research Institute (GIPRI) Tim Caughley, Director of Branch, United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (Geneva) Ronald Dreyer, Coordinator of follow-up "Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development," Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the Office of the UN. Sarah Parker, Researcher, Small Arms Survey Louis Maresca, Legal Advisor, Arms Unit, Legal Division, International Committee of the Red Cross Gustavo Laurie, Geneva Liaison Officer, United Nations Mine Action Service (Geneva) Kerry Brinkert, Director, Implementation Support Unit (ISU), Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention Silvia Cattaneo, Coordinator, Geneva Forum Ngoc Phuong Huynh, Associate Political Affairs |
| 19 November 2008 |
Learn, Adapt, Succeed: Potential
lessons from the Ottawa and Oslo Processes for other disarmament and
arms control challenges The Disarmament Insight Initiative of UNIDIR’s Disarmament as Humanitarian Action project and the Geneva organised informal symposium designed to draw lessons from the Ottawa Process on anti-personnel mines and the Oslo Process on cluster munitions and to explore their possible application to other multilateral disarmament and arms control efforts. A groundbreaking new Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) resulting from the Oslo Process was adopted on 30 May 2008 opened for signature from this December. The cluster munition ban treaty’s achievement has injected much needed energy and renewed purpose into multilateral disarmament and arms control efforts. The Oslo Process was reminiscent of the achievement, over a decade earlier, of the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. Some had argued that the Ottawa Process was an approach – and a humanitarian disarmament outcome – that could never be repeated. Although there are differences between the Ottawa and Oslo processes, these are also noteworthy similarities such as the importance of humanitarian perspectives, including voices from the field such as survivors and clearance personnel; the perceived shortcomings of work in traditional, consensus-based UN structures; the leadership shown by a group of small and medium-sized countries in a ‘core group’; the important roles played by civil society actors both individually as NGOs and as members of a consortium; and investment in the process by developing countries, including by affected states. National-level actions such as moratoria on weapons use and stigmatization in public opinion and in the media were also significant common factors. The purposes of this symposium were (1) to identify and flesh out key lessons that can be drawn from the Ottawa and Oslo processes (for instance, features worth emulating, as well as things to avoid) and (2) to explore how these might be adapted and applied to re-invigorating multilateral action in other important areas of disarmament and arms control. The symposium provided an opportunity for 30 participants from governments, international organisations, civil society and academia to compare and test ideas in an informal yet policy-oriented atmosphere with a view to suggesting possible next steps toward common disarmament and arms control objectives. |
Meeting held under the Chatham House rule |
| 7 July 2008 |
Disarmament, Demobilisation and
Reintegration in Afghanistan: An Evaluation Between 2003 and 2006, the UN Development Programme and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan assisted the Government of Afghanistan to reduce the size of Afghan Military Forces. By the end of August 2007, more than 63,000 soldiers had been demobilised and more than 106,000 weapons collected. Dr. Robin Edward Poulton led an independent evaluation of this project to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process, to identify its impacts, and to draw lessons from the Afghan experience that could be usefully applied to other disarmament programmes. Dr. Poulton presented and discussed this evaluation, as well as the insights he gained through carrying it out. |
Chair:
|
| 9 April 2008 | The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development:: What is it, What it Seeks to Do Armed violence is a major obstacle hampering sustainable economic and social development in the world. In response to this scourge, over 70 states have so far adopted the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development (see www.genevadeclaration.org). The Geneva Declaration emerged from a summit hosted by Switzerland and the UN Development Programme in June 2006 that aimed to: • Raise
global awareness of the negative impact of armed violence on
sustainable development The Geneva Declaration and its follow-up activities are both a diplomatic initiative and a framework for concrete action. While the Declaration is global in nature, its sponsors make determined efforts to test its global objectives through concrete measures such as regional meetings on armed violence and development and establishing focus countries in which the objectives of the the Geneva Declaration – and subsequent regional declarations – can be tested on the ground. This seminar introduced the Geneva Declaration and the steps it has taken since 2006. The speakers illustrated the three programmatic “pillars” of this effort – advocacy, measurability and research, and programming – and demonstrated why each is essential to the goal of achieving measurable reductions in the burden of armed violence and improvements in human security by 2015, the year that has been set for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The seminar also invited discussion about how this ambitious effort can be promoted, particularly by Geneva-based actors. |
Chair: Speakers: Dr. Achim Wennmann Mr. Paul Eavis |
| 6 March 2008 | At What Cost? At What Cost? Wars, Weapons & Conflict Prevention. International Women's Day Seminar Since 1984, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has worked with other NGOs to bring women’s perspectives to the Conference on Disarmament, and has brought women together in Geneva to study and advance efforts for disarmament and implementation of the UN Charter. WILPF teamed up with the Geneva Forum to mark International Women’s Day, as well as the 30th anniversary of the First Special Session on Disarmament of the UN General Assembly, which produced a visionary document at a high point of international consensus and alarm around the dangerous waste of human and economic resources on armaments. A panel discussion took place at UN Headquarters in Geneva during which experts and prominent persons provided new analysis and shocking facts on the financial, political, environmental and opportunity costs of military security versus human security. This event (along with other WILPF events during the same week) honoured the late Randall Forsberg, a woman who left a remarkable legacy to those working for peace, disarmament and conflict prevention. She studied and made known global military policies, arms holdings, production and trade, arms control and peace-building efforts. Randall Forsberg combined expertise, passion and action, the very elements required today to prevent conflicts, to freeze and reverse the wasting of human and economic resources on weapons that kill and mutilate in wars that pollute and destroy. |
Chair: Speakers: |
| 8 February 2008 | Working on Disarmament & Arms Control in Geneva: An Orientation for Diplomats The orientation was designed to brief newly arrived diplomats, as well as those who may recently have taken over responsibility for disarmament and arms control issues, on the genesis, development, current status and future challenges facing multilateral action in the following areas: - Conference on Disarmament Leading experts provided concise briefings on each these issues. The seminar also provided an opportunity to network with diplomats from other Missions, as well as with a range of key actors from the United Nations, international organisations, NGOs and academic institutions. |
Co-Chairs: |
| 28 November 2007 |
Military Applications of Nanotechnology: Challenges for Arms Control
Nanotechnology concerns itself with the analysis and structuring
of matter at the scale of molecules and even individual atoms;
where the boundaries between physics, chemistry and biology break
down. It is generally accepted that nanotechnology, together with
biotechnology and information technology, will revolutionise the
way human beings produce, communicate and live. Its predicted benefits
include stronger but lighter materials, markedly smaller computers
with immensely increased power, large and small autonomous robots,
and targeted intervention within cells. |
Dr. Jürgen
Altmann Professor of Experimental Physics, University of Dortmund, Germany; Author of Military Nanotechnology: Potential Applications and Preventive Arms Control |
| 25 September 2007 |
Complexity & Diplomacy:
Understanding the Implications for Multilateral Arms Control Complex social phenomena – such as armed violence – involve
a large number of individuals, who interact and influence each
other’s perceptions and decisions. These phenomena are also
influenced by many interdependent and interacting external factors.
Traditional analytical approaches fail to reflect the full complexity
of such systems, whose behaviour at the global level can be deeply
counterintuitive.
|
Ms.
Aurélia Merçay Dr.
Philip Ball Prof.
Paul Ormerod |
| 25 May 2007 | Human
Security, ‘Human Nature’ and
Trust-building in Negotiations This symposium underlined the need to consider what cognitive and social characteristics common among all human beings mean for multilateral negotiations and human security. Not least, multilateral environments that promote and facilitate human contact, as well as the development of trust between practitioners enabling more flexible arrangements for dialogue and the emergence of cooperation, are more likely to be productive. This is something the DHA project described as cognitive ergonomics in its third volume of research, entitled Thinking Outside the Box in Multilateral Disarmament and Arms Control Negotiations (2006). Moreover, such thinking could generate new and more practical alternative approaches to alleviating human insecurity at the multilateral level than exist at present. The symposium was aimed to encourage disarmament practitioners
to think differently about human security in order to be more successful
in their work. In line with that aim, this symposium provided a
small group of participants with an opportunity to reflect upon
this topic in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. |
Prof. Frans de Waal Director, Living Links Centre Prof. Paul Seabright Dr. Robin Coupland |
| 19
January
2007 |
The
Disarmament Review Conferences of 2005-2006: Drawing Lessons
and Moving Forward
Organized under the Disarmament Insight Initiative Over the last year-and-a-half, four Review Conferences related to disarmament and arms control have taken place: the 7th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (May 2005); the 1st Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms (June/July 2006); the 3rd Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (November 2006); and the 6th Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (November/December 2006). What can we learn from these meetings? Why were some more successful than others? To what extent did they contribute to advancing multilateral work in their respective fields? What lessons should the international disarmament community draw from these Review Conferences in order to make progress on these and other issues in the future? This symposium
provided a small group of participants with an opportunity to
reflect upon and seek answers to these
questions
in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. To stimulate our thinking, and
to provide a backdrop for the discussions, the meeting was drawn
upon the innovative research being undertaken by UNIDIR’s
Disarmament as Humanitarian Action project and, in particular,
on its forthcoming book entitled, “Thinking Outside the Box
in Multilateral Disarmament and Arms Control Negotiations,” copies
of which were available at the symposium |
Meeting held under the Chatham House Rule |
| 15
January
2007 |
Disarmament and Arms Control in Geneva: An Orientation for Diplomats
This orientation seminar on disarmament and arms control work conducted in Geneva, was aimed particularly at recently arrived diplomats and those that might have taken over responsibility for security and disarmament issues, but was open to all interested diplomats. The orientation
had two goals. First, it aimed to provide diplomats with a concise
overview of the genesis, development, current status
and future challenges facing multilateral activity in a range of
issue areas covered in Geneva – the Conference on Disarmament,
small arms and light weapons, biological and toxin weapons, certain
conventional weapons and anti-personnel mines. Second, the seminar
provided diplomats with an opportunity to meet and interact informally
with relevant Geneva-based actors from the United Nations, international
organisations, NGOs and academic institutions. |
Mr. Kerry Brinkert Manager, Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention Implementation Support Unit, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) Mr. Eric Berman Mr. Richard Lennane Mr. Louis Maresca Mr. Tim Caughley Dr. Patricia Lewis |
| 3 May 2006 | Non-State Armed Groups and Humanitarian Norms: Problems, Progress
and Prospects
While non-state armed groups have always existed, there is still, despite some useful attempts, no clear consensus on how to describe or define them, or on what should be expected from them. Most armed conflicts today are intra-state and involve one or more non-state armed groups fighting government forces or each other. As parties to these conflicts, armed groups are often implicated in activities that undermine human security -- e.g. the use of anti-personnel mines and child soldiers, the misuse of small arms and light weapons, and the conduct of kidnapping and torture. Consequently, the humanitarian and human rights communities constantly struggle with ways to bring armed groups into the basic normative frameworks that bind states. This seminar attempted to come to grips with some of these difficult
political issues by focusing on the use and misuse by non-state
armed groups of anti-personnel landmines and small arms and light
weapons, respectively. |
Ms.
Elisabeth Reusse-Decrey, President, Geneva Call Prof. Keith Krause, Mr. Eric Berman, |
| 20 February 2006 | Security, Disarmament and Arms Control in Geneva: An Orientation for Diplomats This orientation seminar on the security, disarmament and arms control work conducted in Geneva, was aimed particularly at recently arrived diplomats and those that might have taken over responsibility for security and disarmament issues, but was open to all interested diplomats. The orientation had two goals. First, it aimed to provide diplomats with a concise overview of the genesis, development, current status and future challenges facing multilateral activity in a range of issue areas covered in Geneva – the Conference on Disarmament, small arms and light weapons, biological and toxin weapons, certain conventional weapons and anti-personnel mines. Second, the seminar provided diplomats with an opportunity to meet and interact informally with relevant Geneva-based actors from the United Nations, international organisations, NGOs and academic institutions. |
Dr.
Christophe Carle (chair) Deputy Director, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) Prof. Keith Krause Dr. Patricia Lewis Dr. Peter Batchelor Mr. Richard Lennane Mr. Peter Kolarov Mr. Kerry Brinkert Manager Dr. David Atwood |
| 23 February 2005 | Re-defining Global Security: Launch of the "State of the World" 2005 Report Seminar organised in cooperation with Green Cross International Media Summary:
English ¦ French This seminar launched and discussed the 2005 edition of the Worldwatch Institute's annual "State of the World" Report, which this year focuses on "Redefining Global Security." The report, which contains a foreword by former Soviet Union President and Green Cross International chairman, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, argues that the global war on terror is diverting the world's attention from the central causes of instability and that acts of terror and the dangerous reactions they provoke are symptomatic of underlying sources of global insecurity. These include the perilous interplay among poverty, infectious disease, environmental degradation, and rising competition over oil and other resources. The report takes a close look at security trends related to small arms and light weapons, weapons of mass destruction, oil and resource conflict, water, food, population and infectious disease; and offers a holistic interpretation of global security. The report was introduced by Mr. Alexander Likhotal, President of Green Cross International, and was presented by Mr. Christopher Flavin, President of the Worldwatch Institute, which has been producing the annual "State of the World" report since 1984.
|
Mr.
Alexander Likhotal Mr.
Christopher Flavin
|
| 13 October 2004 |
Conflict Goods: Perpetuating Violent Conflict and Fuelling the Demand for Weapons The trade in precious goods such as gem-stones, hardwood, narcotics, rare animals and plants, etc., has long been recognised as playing a central role in many parts of the world in perpetuating violent conflict and fuelling the demand for weapons, including small arms and light weapons. This seminar took a closer look at how these so-called “conflict goods” are exploited to finance or otherwise maintain the war economies of contemporary conflicts. Neil Cooper of the University of Plymouth provided an overview of the strategies used by actors in conflicts to exploit the trade in conflict goods in order to sustain weapons acquisition and war economies. Alex Yearsley of Global Witness – a UK-based NGO working on resources, conflict and corruption – focused specifically on the challenge of eradicating the trade in “blood diamonds” in West Africa and on how this trade is exploited by organised crime and terrorist networks. Both speakers commented on the effectiveness of existing international efforts to control the trade in conflict goods and offered additional policy recommendations.
|
Dr.
Neil Cooper, Principal Lecturer in International Relations,
University of Plymouth, UK.
Mr. Alex Yearsley, Senior Manager, Investigations, Global Witness. |
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