March 6, 2020
The following is an excerpt of an article published on the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs website:
Education is a crucial element of the global disarmament process, and that is why it is important for the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to support the next generation of leaders in this field through the UN’s internship programme. This is in line with the 2002 UN Study on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Education (A/57/124) which identified the objective to impart knowledge and skills to individuals to empower them to make their contribution, as national and world citizens, to the achievement of concrete disarmament and non-proliferation measures and the ultimate goal of general and complete disarmament under effective international control.
UNODA interns Yury Medvedev and Vladislav Chernavskikh.
One special programme that links disarmament education with sustained efforts at international cooperation is the Dual Degree Master’s program in Nonproliferation Studies, established in partnership between Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) and two leading Russian and US nonproliferation think tanks – the PIR Center and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
The program gathers together inspired young people from Russia, the United States, and Europe to equip them with strong knowledge of historic and current trends in the disarmament, nonproliferation and arms control regime. It provides them with a unique opportunity to interact with international professionals and experts and learn a variety of perspectives on how to sustain this regime. The educational process is directed by Dr. Vladimir Orlov (PIR Center’s Founder and Executive Board member) and Dr. William Potter (CNS Director). Both experts lead uniquely designed courses, covering, among other things, the history of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and its Review Process, pressing regional non-proliferation issues, and past and present joint arms control efforts between Russia and the United States.
Yury Medvedev and Vladislav Chernavskikh, two graduate students in the Dual Degree program, are currently working at UNODA as interns, fulfilling their degree requirements.
Continue reading on the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs website.
