Panel discussion on “De-Militarising Security through Human Rights to Peace, SDG 16 & Disarmament”, organised by the Strategic Concept for the Removal of Arms and Proliferation – SCRAP

Thank you Ambassador [H.E. Sabrina Dallafior Matter],
Excellencies,
Distinguished panellists,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure to join you today for the opening of this year’s panel discussion of the Strategic Concept for the Removal of Arms and Proliferation Project – the SCRAP. Granted, a pleasure ‘derived’ from the fact that I am standing in for the Director-General of UNOG, who, unfortunately, had to regret at the last moment. However, he sends his greetings and good wishes for a successful event. It is a pleasure for me personally also, because I was the person on this end, as Director of the UNOG Library, who in 2011 organized the first of many panel discussions together with Professor Dan Plesch, out of which we now have this initiative as well.

When we were discussing this event recently, the Director-General quipped that when he was invited for the first time to your discussion in 2014, he had expressed the hope that this would become an annual event. But today, three years later, he would have prefered if you had achieved the goal of “scrapping” nuclear and other weapons and had come up with a new acronym!

That not being the case, however, we continue to hope that we can transfer the motivation and spirit of this initiative into the Conference on Disarmament to try to help break its deadlock. Particularly through the engagement of the young students – you - who are with us today, this event shows that there is not only a willingness but an expectation to stop the arms race. There is a clear desire among many to refocus efforts on the promotion of peace, human rights and sustainable development instead of expanding weapons arsenals. I am grateful for your presence today and I would like to thank in particular Dr. Plesch - who could not be with us either - for his continued engagement and collaboration on disarmament.

In light of the worrying trends of isolationism combined with upgrading and modernization of weapons in many countries, disarmament is nowhere near as prominent in public discourse as it should be. And this is partly the fault of the disarmament machinery – especially the Conference on Disarmament – which has been set up in a way that makes civil society engagement very difficult. This is why initiatives such as today’s discussion are so essential. And it is the reason why the Director-General has organized two informal CD-civil society fora here in Geneva.

In the 21st century, global challenges can only be addressed through multi-stakeholder engagement that cuts across traditional issue areas. The new Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres, has made it one of his key priorities to better connect the three pillars of the United Nations’ work on peace, human rights and development. It is our task to translate this integrated vision into action, and disarmament cannot be an exception.

The connections between disarmament, development and human rights have been recognized for a long time. It is not a secret, for example, that the vast amounts of money invested into ever more sophisticated and destructive weapons could, if otherwise applied, eradicate poverty and hunger very quickly. SIPRI estimates that the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2 on poverty and hunger could be achieved at a cost of just over 10 percent of annual global arms spending. And it is not just the money that would help achieve the goals that the international community has agreed on. Goal 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies would clearly become more achievable if the most dangerous weapons were no longer available to fuel conflict. I cannot imagine feeling at peace in a society where autonomous weapons and killer robots will soon be able to decide who lives and who dies, and we need to stop these trends to achieve the SDGs.

How will a robot know, for example, when it infringes on human rights? By developing ever more automated technologies, killing becomes more and more de-humanized. But for the victims, it never will be. You cannot turn the pain of losing a relative into a number or a technical command. You cannot over-write the real consequences on the right to life, to health, to education and many others impacted by the threat or use of weapons with the virtual reality that warfare seems to be turning into.

This is why we have to put people and their human rights at the centre. The Sustainable Development Goals – our shared roadmap until 2030 – promise to achieve this. But it is the implementation that is a shared responsibility, which will then deliver on the promise. And it will be advanced much faster, if we manage to channel efforts into disarmament and development rather than militarization and maintenance of the status quo.

Geneva is the perfect place to foster the necessary collaboration. As the seat of the Human Rights Council, as the [Swiss] Ambassador quoted my boss the operational hub of the international system for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and home to the Conference on Disarmament, the relevant actors are here – or come here like you have today. We just need to get them – and us – to talk to each other. Today’s event is an important step in that direction, and I wish you success in the deliberations.

Thank you very much.