Disarmament

The Secretary-General has appointed experts to develop recommendations for measures that complement or go beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is a way to recognize that GDP — relied upon as a gauge of prosperity — provides an incomplete picture of the different dimensions of sustainable development.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the informal consultations on lethal autonomous weapon systems, in New York today:

In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 670,000 people have been displaced since November 2024, while over 1 million people have returned to their areas of origin. Meanwhile, the UN and its partners continue to deliver aid across the country despite reduced funding.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that air strikes on 6 May and today resulted in further civilian casualties across the country. The attacks, in the cities of Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv, killed 6 civilians and injured nearly 30 others, including 10 children, and damaged homes.

The persistent pursuit of nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programmes by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — in violation of Security Council resolutions — continues to undermine the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, a senior United Nations official told the 15-nation organ today.

After three weeks of discussions, the Disarmament Commission concluded its 2025 substantive session today, with the approval of its draft report to the General Assembly, as well as the reports of its two working groups — all by consensus.

On 24 April, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean celebrated a year of youth commitment to building a Latin America region free of armed violence through hosting a dedicated webinar on its “GenerAccion Paz” initiative.

On 23 and 24 April, States from Middle East and North Africa will gather in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the implementation of the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management to counter illicit trafficking and diversion of ammunition and reduce the risk of unplanned explosions at munition sites.

A senior United Nations official called for renewed action to fortify the international disarmament architecture, as the 2025 session of the Disarmament Commission opened today amid the highest risk of nuclear weapon use since the cold war.

In South Sudan, the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) continues to be engaged in intensive high-level political efforts to de-escalate the current tensions and convince the parties to preserve the peace deal they all agreed to.