“Youth” and “Disarmament” – Thoughts from the first committee
Siri Jansson, AMC's representative at the first UN Youth4Disarmament Forum
Since 2019, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) has advanced youth engagement in global peace and security through its Youth4Disarmament programme. Building on this initiative, the first UN Youth4Disarmament Forum was held in New York on 16–17 October 2025. The forum culminated in a side event to the UN first committee. These are some personal reflections on my participation.
The first committee 2025
The first committee this year was a strange one. UN79 met against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions involving Russia, China, and a more ambiguous U.S. posture, alongside the UN80 agenda and growing anticipation of the 2026 NPT Review Conference. While fewer resolutions were tabled (only one new on NCC systems by Mexico) and the session ran more efficiently, Russia continued to dominate procedural space – now more openly defending the DPRK’s nuclear programme – while the United States showed increased scepticism toward multilateralism, shifting to abstentions or “no” votes on several previously consensus resolutions, particularly in the nuclear and space clusters (notably a “no” on the resolution on implementation on CTBT). Perhaps a new light, and an increased scrutiny, on China.
Attending the Youth4Disarmament side event to the First Committee, with UN HQ accreditation, gave me and the 30 other young participants some freedom to roam around. The air of the UN HQ was largely cool and bureaucratic – small delegations of like-minded states eating a free sandwich given out by the Government of the Netherlands in return for attending their side event on REAIM, presenting the initiative’s most recent report – with a kitschy twist: a well-stocked gift shop in the public lobby with UN-branded shot glasses. The HQ building itself, in its “grandness” still exuding something very minimal and discrete, makes me think of my imagined tone of diplomacy in the 50’s where multilateralism was all the rage and global politics the promise of the future.
In unsurprising contrast to the diplomatic sphere, the Youth4Disarmament side event was a room of consensus. The outcome document presented at the side event “The Future Won’t Wait: Youth Policy Pathways on Nuclear Weapons and Emerging Technologies” entails a set of recommendations urging UN Member States to institutionalize meaningful youth participation in disarmament and non-proliferation, establish dedicated multilateral mechanisms on emerging technologies and nuclear risk, and adopt concrete measures to manage AI, cyber, and space-related threats while advancing innovative verification tools to reduce nuclear risks. A couple of delegates joined the room. Canada, Costa Rica and Egypt participated in the side event. The outcome document was officially published on January 7 at an event co-hosted by the Republic of Korea and Finland.
Reflections: youth and disarmament
Personally, given my time spent as a Research Assistant with the Alva Myrdal Centre (AMC), I have been granted access to many opportunities under the “youth label”. Being “young” is a particular side door to events and education. It is both rewarding and troubling that this work takes on the contours of a parallel career. You start out with one network or event and then, using those merits, advance to others. You start to see the same people in new forums, and this specific sub-set of friends from your disarmament groups emerges: my disarmament friends.
I always have a bit of a think following these experiences on what it means to have been there. Given my participation, was a “youth perspective” included and what is that? Did my participation advance anything? As is far progressed in the diplomatic sphere, the agenda for “disarmament” has starkly moved into the future, and focus is generally put on curbing and managing the application of emerging technologies with the potential to spiral the issue further. The same was reflected in the youth forum’s theme. In a moment where disarmament itself often feels like an unspeakable concept, youth disarmament groups occupy a peculiar position: they do not necessarily dispute the prevailing view that disarmament is currently very challenging, but rather remind us of the tragedy in that acceptance. Making a youth perspective visible to UN Member States is revealing. While it may broaden that perspective’s influence, more importantly it allows for a stocktaking of how it is received, and what that reception exposes. Uncovering this dynamic is essential.
Only when states are confronted with a “youth perspective” can it become clear to what extent it is sidelined, something equally true across many agendas. A reception, finding its place amongst other important symbols, serving as a reminder that regardless of the rhetoric of the moment, any geopolitical stance is ultimately shaped by choices, both large and small. I see the subtle discomfort of this tension as the very value of my engagements. Spending time with my youth networks always reminds me of how radical the concept of disarmament really has become.
"Only when states are confronted with a “youth perspective” can it become clear to what extent it is sidelined"
The Youth4Disarmament Forum
- In 2015 the United Nations formally began its mandate to engage youth in non-proliferation and disarmament. UN General Assembly resolution 70/237, Youth, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, was introduced by the Republic of Korea, recognising young people as key stakeholders in disarmament.
- The youth engagement mandate was progressively institutionalised within the UN system and in 2019 the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) launched the Youth4Disarmament initiative, significantly expanding youth-focused in disarmament.
- Building on this initiative, in 2025 the first Youth4Disarmament Forum, “Nuclear weapons and emerging technologies” took place in New York.
- Over 30 young participants (aged 18–29) attended, nominated by key partners and selected based on demonstrated engagement with the Forum’s themes and relevant professional backgrounds.
- The Forum consisted of a series of preparatory webinars held during the summer, followed by a collaborative drafting process that produced the Youth for Disarmament Forum Outcome Document. The forum culminated in a dedicated side event to the UN General Assembly First Committee at the UN Headquarters.
- The Forum and related activities were supported through financial contributions from the Government of the Republic of Korea.