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

CABLE ADDRESS -ADDRESSE TELEGRAPHIQUE: UNATIONS NEWYORK

Group of Governmental Experts to

Prepare a United Nations Study on

Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education

Information Note
for All Interested University Educators,
Disarmament and Peace-Related Institutes and
Non-Governmental Organizations

1. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 55/33 E of 20 November 2000 (attached for reference), the Group of Governmental Experts to Prepare a United Nations Study on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education held its first session in New York from 18 to 20 April 2001. A copy of a United Nations press release is attached giving a brief description of the work of the group at its first session. Further information on the study will be featured on the http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/education. It will include such information as the GA resolution, the list of the experts participating in the Group, background material, and presentations made at the first session

SURVEY OF CURRENT SITUATION

2. One of the tasks given to the Group was "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". The Group was aware that much information on the subject exists. However, it also believed that there was a need to collect and collate this information. In addition, the development of sound recommendations by the Group of Experts will depend on the quality of objective and comprehensive information that the Group is able to gather. A request to that effect has been circulated to Member and Observer States of the Organization, as well as to UN offices and agencies.
3. In order to capture as true a picture as possible of the situation, your assistance or that of your organization in the Group’s endeavour to compile this broad range of information relevant to the purposes of the resolution would be highly appreciated.
4. The information the Group is seeking could include:

• The formal and informal disarmament and non-proliferation education programmes, courses or curricula that you or your organization carry out at all levels of education;
• Whether your institution or organization might have already collated such information in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation education and training;
• Does your institution or organization conduct information or educational disarmament and non-proliferation programmes for Government officials, parliamentarians, municipal leaders, the military, or other sectors;
• Does your institution or organization carry out any other educational programmes in the sphere of disarmament and non-proliferation for the media, researchers, scientists, engineers, teachers, unions, or for the general public;
• Have there been any public opinion polls that your institution or organization has conducted, or is aware of as having been conducted in your region, bearing on the subject.

1. The resolution (attached) 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

2. In addition to any background material presented in connection with the survey, the Group welcomes two-page executive summaries describing your or your organization’s work in disarmament and non-proliferation education (address below). It also welcomes summaries of your views on the mandate contained in the resolution under operative paragraphs 1 (a) to (f).

oral presentations

3. Avenues are being explored to accommodate the input of as many different types of educators and organizations as possible in future sessions or in intersessional gatherings. Requests to make such presentations should be sent to the address below. Specific information on the tentative meeting in Monterey, CA will be circulated when available.
4. The United Nations is not in a position to reimburse any expenses for travel or accommodations in connection with the expert group meetings.

 

contact address

5. All 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, Room S-3151 A

Department for Disarmament Affairs

United Nations

New York, New York 10017

Tel: (212) 963-4620 or 7714

Fax: (212) 963-1121

Email: cassandra@un.org

alip@un.org

* * * * *

____________________________________________________________

Resolution 55/33 E adopted without a vote on 20 November 2000

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.

_________________________________________________________________

United Nations Press Release

DC/2774

23 April 2001

NEW YORK, 23 April (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- Created by General Assembly resolution 55/33 E of 20 November 2000, a group of governmental experts preparing a study on disarmament and non-proliferation education held its first session in New York from 18 to 20 April. To gather information, the group decided to conduct a wide survey of the existing educational and training programmes, courses and curricula in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation education at all levels of education, in all regions of the world. The survey will be sent to governments, United Nations agencies, university educators, disarmament and peace-related institutes and non-governmental organizations.

In addition to the survey, the group is tasked with defining contemporary disarmament and non-proliferation education and training, taking into account the need to promote a culture of non-violence and peace. It will also recommend ways to promote such education and training at all levels of formal and informal education, in particular the training of educators, parliamentarians, municipal leaders, military officers and government officials.

The group will examine ways to utilize more fully evolving pedagogic methods, particularly the revolution in information and communications technology, including distance learning, so as to be helpful to educators in the developing world. It will also 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 the field. Finally, it will devise ways to introduce disarmament and non-proliferation education into post-conflict situations as a contribution to peace-building.

The report will be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session in the fall of 2002. The Chairman of the Group of Experts is Ambassador Miguel Marín Bosch, Under Secretary for Asia, Africa, Europe and Multilateral Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of Mexico. The 10 governmental experts come from diverse geographic, educational and social traditions (Egypt, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Senegal and Sweden).

The experts also began gathering information needed for the study, with written and oral presentations by relevant United Nations offices and agencies (Department of Public Information, Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and the University for Peace).

The group also heard presentations by five leading formal and informal educators in disarmament and non-proliferation from the Center for Non-proliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Program for General and Complete Disarmament of the University of Maryland, and the Peace Education Program of The Hague Appeal for Peace. The group also received background information in writing on the activities of 14 civil society organizations.

The group will hold its next session from 8 to 10 August, its third session in spring 2002 and its last session to finalize the report in early July next year. Selective presentations and other materials will soon be available at www.un.org/Depts/dda. For further information, contact: Michael Cassandra, Department for Disarmament Affairs, Room 3151A, ext. 3-7714, Cassandra@un.org

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