Review of A New Agenda for Peace’s Recommendations for Disarmament and Demilitarisation

On 20 July 2023, the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) launched A New Agenda for Peace as an input to preparations for the 2024 Summit for the Future. This paper provides a review of the Agenda's recommendations on disarmament and demilitarisation.

A New Agenda for Peace, to which Reaching Critical Will made a submission in January 2023, contains a number of recommendations directly related to disarmament and demilitarisation. The UNSG is clear about the problems that militarism poses to global peace and security and the Agenda offers several strong recommendations to eliminate weapons and prevent conflict. However, in some places the Agenda stops short of suggesting actions that would dismantle the systems of war profiteering and structural violence that oppress the majority of people in the world.

This assessment of the disarmament and demilitarisation-related portions of A New Agenda for Peace highlights the strong recommendations but also outlines some of these shortfalls and offers suggestions for how to strengthen this Agenda moving forward.

Written by Ray Acheson • Published in July 2023 by Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

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