25 years GCSP: Towards an Evidence-Based Arms Control and Disarmament - Conclusion

Towards an Evidence-Based Arms Control and Disarmament - Conclusion

Ashley Muller: Welcome to concluding episode ff this mini-series on towards evidence-based arms control and disarmament, I’m your host Ashley Müller with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

As our experts have clearly stated, fact-based evidence is an absolute requirement for policy-makers, parliamentarians, and society in making informed policy decisions or overseeing them in the interest of national, regional, global, and human security. It is not an easy task to resist the influence of manipulated or falsified information, especially in a globalised world where new technology offers so much coverage and impact. While state security may require some degree of confidentiality, this needs to be balanced with the human right of the citizens and their representatives to be duly informed in order to exercise their democratic responsibilities. This demonstrates the need for a multi-stakeholder approach to security and particularly arms control and disarmament, because of the potential impact of misguided decisions on people, whether in conflict zones or not. Just like for other major threats such as climate change or pandemics, it is the duty of governments to listen to the scientists and experts and take action to prevent or mitigate the risks that they have identified. This is why governments and intergovernmental organisations should form partnerships with the scientific community, along with academia, industry, and civil society organisations to unite efforts to combat destabilizing arms proliferation, and eliminate as a priority weapons of mass destruction that threaten the survival of humanity and the planet. Ms Ashley Müller: That’s all we have now for this mini-series. Thank you to the Inter-Parliaentary Union, the Small Arms Survey, Honourable Raphael Chegeni a member of Parliament from Tanzania and Senator Marilou McPherdran of the Senate of Canada. In the meantime, don’t forget to follow us Spotify or iTunes or subscribe to us on your favourite podcast player and follow us across all of our social media channels.

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