Disarmament

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the fiftieth anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention, today:

The International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, today released new figures showing that renewables accounted for over 90 per cent of total power expansion globally in 2024. As in previous years, most of the increase occurred in Asia, with the greatest share being contributed by China.

To comprehensively tackle the devastating impact of the illicit flow of small arms and light weapons on sustainable development, the President of the seventy-ninth session of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang, and the President of the UN Economic and Social Council, Bob Rae, in collaboration with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, will convene a meeting on Monday, 17 March, at UN Headquarters in New York.

The new political reality in Syria presents an opportunity to obtain long-overdue clarifications on the Syrian chemical weapons programme, rid the country of all such weapons and ensure long-term compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.

The Secretary-General will convene the two Cypriot leaders and the Guarantor Powers of Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom for an informal meeting in Geneva from 17 to 18 March, which will provide an opportunity for a meaningful discussion on the way forward on the Cyprus issue.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, observed on 5 March:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Conference on Disarmament, in Geneva today:

The third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be held at the United Nations Headquarters from 3 to 7 March.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs is issuing a public call for candidates to serve on an independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War.

In Central and Southern Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that humanitarian partners had exhausted all supplies at their warehouses, at a time when Israeli authorities continue to deny most requests to bring food assistance from the Erez West crossing to areas south of Wadi Gaza.