Overview

On 24 May 2018, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched his Disarmament Agenda “Securing Our Common Future”. In view of the deteriorating international security environment, the growing human and economic costs of the consequent insecurity and the fact that, since the end of the Cold War, many disarmament commitments have gone unfulfilled, the Agenda aims at reviving serious multilateral dialogue and bringing disarmament and non-proliferation back to the centre of the work of the United Nations. The Agenda seeks to generate fresh perspectives and outlines a set of practical measures across the entire range of disarmament issues, including weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and new weapon technologies.

At the invitation of Member States, in 2021, the UN Secretary-General published a report, entitled “Our Common Agenda”, which represents his vision for a reinvigorated multilateralism for the next 25 years. In this report, the UN Secretary-General proposed the holding of a Summit of the Future to forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like, and what we can do to secure it. One of the 11 policy briefs the UN Secretary-General issued subsequently to provide more detail on certain proposals included in the “Our Common Agenda” report and to support Member States in their deliberations as they prepare for the Summit of the Future, is entitled “A New Agenda for Peace”. The brief suggests twelve actions and recommendations to prevent, manage and resolve conflict and to strengthen the collective security system, many of them with a substantial disarmament focus.

Objective

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• justify the importance of disarmament;
• describe the instruments, measures and objectives for pursuing disarmament;
• understand the role the United Nations and the Secretary-General play in promoting disarmament; and
• explain the vision and practical actions outlined in the Secretary-General’s Disarmament Agenda and New Agenda for Peace, and their implications for the field of disarmament.

	Classification: Course level: introductory Methodology: Online Self-paced Course Registration: Public self-enrolment
	Components and Methodology: The course consists of 2 thematic modules: Introduction to Disarmament: Machinery, Processes and the Role of the United Nations The UN Secretary-General’s Guiding Documents for Peace and Disarmament What will participants learn? This short course aims at providing an overview of the ´An Agenda for Disarmament´ (2018), as well as the ´A New Agenda for Peace´ (2023), their contents and how they are put into practice. The course is available in English and is held in the Disarmament Education Dashboard, thus participants need a computer or mobile device, with audio and reliable internet connection. No special software is required.
	Certificate: Upon successful completion of thematic modules, including examination and course evaluation a certificate of completion will automatically be issued to the participant.

Short-course Series

The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Short Course Series aims at making available quality education material on disarmament, arms control, non-proliferation and issues cross-cutting with security, such as gender and development. The courses are targeted for and available to the general public at UNODA’S globally accessible e-Learning platform disarmamenteducation.org.

In line with the UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament this short-course series aims to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.