Improvised weapons manufacturing has never been more accessible, cost-effective and reliable. In the past decade, growing and increasingly sophisticated knowledge on weapons production has been spreading – far beyond States’ control – both across conflict and non-conflict settings. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) are becoming increasingly part of non-state armed groups’ conventional arsenals, as well as proliferating among civilians and criminal groups.
How to acquire, assemble and deploy different types of conventional weapons is no longer the knowledge of a few. Detailed guidance and ‘know-how’ on technologies, tools and techniques to assemble explosives, firearms, and to weaponize drones, are now globally accessible through decentralized knowledge networks – both online and offline. The diffusion of such knowledge has contributed to an increase in these devices’ uncontrolled production – and their eventual use. There is a pressing need to enhance international awareness and cooperation to more effectively prevent and respond to diffused and uncontrolled conventional weapons production.
In light of this, in 2025, UNIDIR’s Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme has launched a new initiative: “Breaking the supply chain: Countering the illicit production of improvised SALW, IEDs and UAS”. It seeks to raise awareness and enhance efforts to counter the threat posed by improvised conventional weapons. As part of this initiative, UNIDIR is organizing an international conference titled “Inside the networks: How knowledge transfer drives improvised weapons production”.
This day-long event will focus on the unique role played by online and offline networks for knowledge transfer on improvised weapons acquisition, assembly and deployment. It will provide a common space – beyond existing international frameworks – to explore how different networks and platforms are used to facilitate the uncontrolled proliferation of improvised weapons. The conference is intended as a global platform for sharing challenges, existing good practices and potential additional measures that can contribute to improving responses to this emerging threat. It will seek to achieve the following objectives:
- Bridge the gap between all relevant stakeholders – including policymakers, law enforcement, industry, and civil society – on the role of different knowledge transfer networks in the acquisition, assembly, and deployment of improvised SALW, IEDs, and UAS.
- Discuss key linkages and trends in knowledge transfer about improvised weapons – both across online communities and offline networks of non-state actors.
- Identify effective measures that stakeholders have implemented – or could implement – to improve national and international responses to the proliferation of improvised weapons.
The conference will host State representatives, law enforcement experts, civil society experts, industry actors and social media companies. It will be structured around four substantive sessions:
- Sessions 1 and 2 will provide an overview of the issue, focusing on key developments in improvised weapons production, and on the key role played by online and offline knowledge transfer networks. These sessions will be livestreamed and recorded.
- Sessions 3 and 4 will focus on specific case studies from different regions of the world, and will discuss key effective measures that different stakeholders can implement to contribute to preventing the proliferation of improvised weapons. These sessions will be conducted under Chatham House Rule and will not be livestreamed or recorded.
Agenda
08:30 – 09:00 – Registration and welcome coffee
09:00 – 09:30 – Conference high-level opening
09:30 – 10:30 – Session 1: An introduction to improvised weapons
This session will set the scene for the conference and introduce participants to developments in the field of improvised weapons. It will establish the importance of focusing on the issue of improvised SALW, IEDs and UAS across the globe, as well as key linkages across these weapon types.
10:30 – 11:00 – Coffee break
11:00 – 12:00– Session 2: Online and offline knowledge transfer
This session will explore the relevance of knowledge transfer networks for manufacturing, acquiring and using an improvised weapon. It will unpack the unique role played by online communities and offline networks and connections in this layered acquisition process.
12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch break
13:00 – 14:30– Session 3: Case studies from the world
This session will examine several case studies – from across all regions of the world – that show how knowledge transfer on improvised weapons has occurred. It will look at key related acquisition patterns, and impacts from use in different conflict and non-conflict settings.
14:30 – 15:00 – Coffee break
15:00 – 16:30 – Session 4: Effective measures for prevention and response
This session will focus on concrete measures that States, law enforcement, industry, and social media platforms have been taking, or can potentially put forward, to prevent unregulated improvised weapons production – with a particular focus on measures that can act upon networks of knowledge transfer, and contain such uncontrolled diffusion among unauthorised actors. It aims at identifying areas for cooperation, as well as further policy developments.
16:30 – 17:00 – Wrap-up and closing remarks
When and where
Monday, 8 December 2025, Room V, Building A, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
Participants
Participation is by invitation only. The conference will bring together representatives from permanent missions, international and regional organizations, as well as national law enforcement experts and other key stakeholders working in the domain of improvised conventional weapons. An invitation with RSVP details and further information will follow.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship opportunities will be available for a limited number of participants. Further details will be provided in the invitation.
Further information
For any questions, please contact Matilde Vecchioni at matilde.vecchioni@un.org or Theo Bajon at theo.bajon@un.org.