On 16-17 October, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs organized the first Youth4Disarmament Forum. UNIDIR’s Shimona Mohan, Associate Researcher at the Integrated Approaches and Security and Technology Programmes, and Victoria Guimarães, Graduate Professional at the Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, joined youth from all over the world in New York. They share their reflections on the conference, emerging technologies, nuclear disarmament, and inclusion.
Over two days, participants engaged in discussions on the future of international disarmament and arms control, with a particular focus on the challenges related to nuclear weapons and emerging technologies. The conference marks 80 years since the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as 55 years since the adoption of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
What was it like to take part in the very first Youth4Disarmament Forum, and what stood out to you most about the experience?
Shimona: It was a distinct pleasure to be part of the first (of many, hopefully!) Youth4Disarmament Forum. As a disarmament enthusiast who has been involved with the initiative’s activities annually since 2022, it is heartening to see the level of interest from fellow young disarmament advocates around the world, as well as the immense support by several Member States that made the Forum possible. What stood out to me most was how knowledgeable and passionate the participants were.
The conference solidified my belief that we do not have a scarcity of ideas and possible solutions to pressing disarmament problems. We just need the right access, tools, networks and platforms to actionize them.
Victoria: What stood out to me most was the genuine recognition of the importance of including young leaders’ voices in disarmament discussions — bringing fresh perspectives, creativity, and a strong sense of urgency to address today’s global challenges. It was inspiring to connect with peers from around the world who share the same commitment to ensuring that nuclear disarmament remains relevant for future generations.
Looking back on the discussions, what are the most important lessons you are taking away from the Forum?
Shimona: All cogs in the disarmament machinery – including civil society, academia, research institutions, industry, national policy audiences, and international organizations – need to work in tandem with each other to avoid silos and create real, lasting change. One of the most important lessons from the Forum for me has been that young people can be effective bridges between these groups, and our passion can be a force multiplier that amplifies the gains made in disarmament across levels, geographies and communities of practice.
Victoria: The most important lesson to me is the urgency of addressing a reduced timeframe for decision-making, which increasingly risks outpacing human cognition. Still, I left the discussions with a sense of hope and responsibility – that technology should serve humanity, and that future innovations, led by a new generation of thinkers, may enable more effective verification mechanisms. The Forum also highlighted the importance of inclusive, intergenerational dialogue, where youth voices actively shape policy discussions alongside states, academia, civil society, and technology developers.
As a generation raised in a digital environment and deeply familiar with the transformative potential – and risks – of AI, young professionals bring crucial insight into how emerging technologies can be governed responsibly.
Addressing such complex and fast-evolving challenges demands both technical fluency and long-term vision – qualities that youth can uniquely contribute to the global disarmament agenda.
How can future disarmament dialogues better integrate gender perspectives, particularly when addressing nuclear disarmament and emerging technologies?
Shimona: Security-oriented conversations are often conceived and continued in male-dominated spaces, with little representation of women and people of diverse gender identities. This is also a separate but very relevant parallel issue in the tech industry, which means that disarmament dialogues that are specific to nuclear weapons and emerging technologies inherently doubly suffer from the lack of diverse perspectives. This is despite the fact that these technologies affect different populations differently, given unresolved issues such as gender biases in AI.
Future, and indeed even current, disarmament convenings need to ensure that they include women and people of diverse gender identities as well as gender perspectives within these discussions.
This will contribute to raising awareness of this lack of perspectives, capacity building of relevant audiences, and mainstreaming the gendered impacts of weapons and technologies in final documents produced by the disarmament community can assist concretely with this.
Victoria: Integrating gender perspectives in disarmament requires recognizing and supporting the expertise of women already contributing to nuclear and technology policy. Creating spaces for women to fill by encouraging mentorship, providing research opportunities, and aiming for equal participation in decision-making processes strengthens both the inclusivity and effectiveness of disarmament dialogues.
Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, highlighted in the opening session that youth visions are important since they challenge the status quo and will shape the future of disarmament. What concrete steps are needed to ensure that youth engagement from this forum translates into lasting inclusion and impact?
Shimona: Ms Nakamitsu highlighted several measures to support youth participation in disarmament in her address, chief among which was that the Youth4Disarmament Forum should be convened regularly, ideally every other year, to take stock of progress and brainstorm fresh ideas. I believe this bi-annual occurrence of the Forum can be used as a checkpoint for young people to monitor and evaluate contemporary disarmament updates, propose new approaches and strengthen existing implementation of disarmament policy tools. However, to effectively incentivize and retain youth engagement, support must be provided to young people through regular funding to relevant initiatives, institutional support, and upskilling opportunities.
Victoria: As emphasized by Ms Nakamitsu: “meaningful youth participation in multilateral discussions must become the norm, not the exception.” Achieving lasting inclusion requires building sustained and structured avenues for youth engagement that draw on their digital fluency and innovative perspectives on emerging security challenges.
Beyond convening dedicated youth forums, this could involve integrating young professionals into national delegations and expert groups, establishing mentorship and exchange programmes between youth and senior practitioners, and providing targeted funding for youth-led initiatives and regional networks.
Ensuring equitable participation by further including the Global Majority would allow disarmament discussions to benefit from a truly diverse range of insights and contribute to a more inclusive and forward-looking global agenda.
