Disarmament

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Security Council again failed to adopt a resolution on outer space today — following the Russian Federation’s veto of a similar text on 24 April — with members voting in the same manner that saw the defeat of a proposed amendment to that text, which was then incorporated into the draft under present consideration.

This week, States from Latin America and the Caribbean will gather in Lima, Peru, to discuss the implementation of the recently adopted Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management. They will identify regional priorities and needs, as well as region-specific challenges and opportunities for translating the political commitments under this Global Framework into concrete action.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs is launching the Sci-fAI Futures Youth Challenge, calling on young people to share their vision of a fictional world in 2145 where countries around the world have integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into their militaries, exploring scenarios of both benefits and risks.

NEW YORK, 10 May (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — On the occasion of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace and Spanish Language Day, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) launched the first edition of GenerAcción Paz: building dreams, disarming violence (GenerAcción Paz: armando sueños, desarmando la violencia), which aspires to empower young people to create a region free of armed violence.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to mark the twentieth anniversary Security Council resolution 1540 (2004):

The Security Council today failed to adopt its first-ever resolution on outer space — one that would have affirmed the obligation of all States parties to fully comply with the Outer Space Treaty, including not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.

A report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that explosive weapons were responsible for nearly half of the more than 47,500 children killed or maimed in more than 24 different conflict zones between 2018 and 2022. The vast majority of these instances occurred in populated areas.

On 15 April 2024, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) enacted the amendments, specified with strikethrough and/or underline, in the entry below on its Sanctions List of individuals and entities.

In Madagascar, the United Nations and its partners are supporting the Government’s response to Tropical Cyclone Gamane. According to the Government, the tropical cyclone — which hit the country on 3 April — killed 19 people, injured 3 others and left some 22,000 people displaced.