Since 2019, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) has empowered young leaders through its #Youth4Disarmament program that connects youth with experts to advance global peace and security. On October 16th and 17th the first of its kind UN Youth4Disarmament Forum took place at the UN Headquarters in New York and brought together 26 young leaders and experts. The forum focused on nuclear weapons and emerging technologies and also served as an opportunity to commemorate key disarmament milestones: 80 years since atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and 55 years since the adoption of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
PAX’s Open Nuclear Network was involved in the Forum. Kseniia Pirnavskaia, ONN Engagement and Network Coordinator, moderated the High-Level Opening Panel on the first day. In her opening remarks as a moderator, she focused on three forces at play in today’s nuclear and tech landscape:
-Speed – decisions are made faster than ever, raising the stakes — but also offering smarter tools for peace
-Opacity – complex systems can erode trust, but transparency and cooperation can turn that around
-Diffusion – dual-use tech is spreading rapidly, but so is the opportunity to make disarmament and non-proliferation fields more inclusive
The following day Dr. Olamide Samuel, ONN Network Specialist, also spoke at an event.
