Note # 1 Prepared by the UN's Department for Disarmament Affairs for NGOs

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

POSTAL ADDRESS-ADRESSE POSTALE: UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. 10017

CABLE ADDRESS -ADDRESSE TELEGRAPHIQUE: UNATIONS NEWYORK

15 March 2001

Group of Governmental Experts to

Prepare a United Nations Study on

Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education

First Session

New York, 18-20 April 2001

NOTE TO INTERESTED UNIVERSITY EDUCATORS,
DISARMAMENT AND PEACE-RELATED INSTITUTES AND
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

The General Assembly, acting on the advice of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, adopted without a vote the resolution entitled "United Nations study on disarmament and non-proliferation education" (55/33 E of 20 November 2000 below). In it, the Assembly requests the Secretary-General to prepare such a study, with the assistance of a group of qualified governmental experts, for consideration at its fifty-seventh session (in 2002).
The study will be carried out by a small group of ten governmental experts representing the geographical regions of the world and different approaches, philosophies and cultures with respect to education within regions (experts from Egypt, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Senegal and Sweden). The group of governmental experts will hold two short sessions in 2001 and two in 2002 in New York: the first session is scheduled from

Wednesday to Friday, 18-20 April 2001, and the second from Wednesday to Friday,

8-10 August 2001.

The resolution also requests the experts to "invite university educators, disarmament and peace-related institutes and non-governmental organizations that have special qualifications in education and training or in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation to make written and oral presentations to it."

written presentations

Based on that request and with a view to preparing the first session, the Secretariat of the group is preparing background material for the group of experts. If your organization is interested, it is invited to submit a two-page paper to the Secretariat (address below) describing its work in disarmament and non-proliferation education and its views on the purpose and role of the study. It would be appreciated if papers were sent as far in advance of the first session as possible.
Additional material relating to your organization may also be presented to the group. However, quantities for circulation to all the participants in the meeting (a total of at least 31 copies, i.e., ten experts, ten UN agencies, six interpreters, five secretariat) would need to be supplied.

oral presentations

Given the restricted amount of time available at the first session, several academics and representatives from NGOs and research institutes known for their active work in the field under study will be requested to make oral presentations to the first session. Avenues are being explored to accommodate the input of as many different types of organizations as possible in future sessions or in intersessional gatherings. The latter will depend on the views of the governmental experts themselves and the availability of resources.

contact address

Preparations for the first session of the group are now actively under way. Written material may be sent to the following address at the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs. Further information is also available at the same address.

Secretariat of the Group of Governmental Experts

Monitoring, Database and Information Branch

Department for Disarmament Affairs

United Nations

New York, New York 10017

Room 3151 A

Tel: (212) 963-4620 or 7714

Fax: (212) 963-1121

Email: cassandra@un.org

alip@un.org

* * * * *

55/33 E

United Nations study on disarmament and non-proliferation education

The General Assembly,

Desirous of stressing the urgency of promoting concerted international efforts at disarmament and non-proliferation, especially in the field of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, with a view to strengthening international security and enhancing sustainable economic and social development,

Conscious of the need, more than a decade after the end of the cold war and at the start of the twenty-first century, to combat the negative effects of cultures of violence and complacency in the face of current dangers in this field through long-term programmes of education and training,

1. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, with the assistance of a group of qualified governmental experts, a study on disarmament and non-proliferation, that would have the following aims:

(a) To define contemporary disarmament and non-proliferation education and training, taking into account the need to promote a culture of non-violence and peace;

(b) To assess the current situation of disarmament and non-proliferation education and training at the primary, secondary, university and postgraduate levels of education, in all regions of the world;

(c) To recommend ways to promote education and training in disarmament and non-proliferation at all levels of formal and informal education, in particular the training of educators, parliamentarians, municipal leaders, military officers and government officials;

(d) To examine ways to utilize more fully evolving pedagogic methods, particularly the revolution in information and communications technology, including distance learning, to enhance efforts in disarmament education and training at all levels, in the developed and the developing world;

(e) To recommend ways in which organizations of the United Nations system with special competence in disarmament or education or both can harmonize and coordinate their efforts in disarmament and non-proliferation education;

(f) To devise ways to introduce disarmament and non-proliferation education into post-conflict situations as a contribution to peace-building;

and considers that the group of experts should invite representatives of organizations of the United Nations system with special competence in disarmament or education or both to participate in its work, and should also invite university educators, disarmament and peace-related institutes and non-governmental organizations that have special qualifications in education and training or in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation to make written and oral presentations to it;

2. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session on this question.