Wiki4Disarmament

Wiki4Disarmament is a collaborative initiative between the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Wikimedia community, dedicated to improving public understanding of disarmament and peace. It aims to improve, expand, and create content related to disarmament, arms control, and peacebuilding. The initiative is aligned with United Nations priorities on disarmament, which emphasizes eliminating nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and controlling the spread of small arms and light weapons as the highest disarmament goals.

Background

Disarmament is a key pillar of international peace and security, yet much of the public knowledge on the topic remains fragmented or inaccessible. This project seeks to bridge this gap through Wikimedia projects by documenting institutions, agreements, individuals, and movements involved in disarmament and arms control.

Agencies working for nuclear disarmament

UN Secretary-General's Bulletin establishing the structure and responsibilities of the Department for Disarmament Affairs, which was later renamed UNODA.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs supports efforts to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction and encourages transparency and confidence-building among states. It provides administrative and substantive support to disarmament bodies such as the Conference on Disarmament, the UN Disarmament Commission, and the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, and works to advance major treaties like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Other major actors include the International Atomic Energy Agency, which ensures the peaceful use of nuclear energy; the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors compliance with the test ban; and the Conference on Disarmament (CD), which serves as a negotiating forum for disarmament treaties. Civil society and research bodies such as w:International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the Pugwash Conferences contribute through advocacy, data, and dialogue.

Objectives

Wiki4Disarmament aims to:

• Improve coverage of disarmament treaties, arms control regimes, and related UN processes.
• Create and expand articles on important figures, institutions, and NGOs working in disarmament.
• Strengthen representation of youth perspectives in peace and security topics.
• Support multilingual content creation across English, French, Arabic, and other relevant languages.

Focus Areas

The project covers a broad range of topics related to arms control and peace:

1. Antimilitarism and Peace Activism: The history and philosophy of non-violence movements, peace symbols, and grassroots campaigns against war.
2. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, including treaties like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Chemical Weapons Convention, and Biological Weapons Convention. These topics address both the technical aspects of disarmament and the humanitarian impacts of WMDs.
3. Conventional Arms Control: Small arms, light weapons, landmines, and conventional military forces. This includes efforts like arms trade regulations, demining programs, and community disarmament initiatives.
4. Emerging Technologies and Security: Information and communication technologies, cyber warfare, drones, and autonomous weapons. As the UN notes, rapid ICT development creates new security threats, making disarmament education in the digital age more important than ever.

How to participate

Anyone can contribute to Wiki4Disarmament through Wikimedia projects. Ways to participate include:

• Editing and Writing: Create or improve Wikipedia articles on disarmament topics. New editors can start at Wikipedia:Getting started or use the Teahouse for guidance.

• Uploading Media: Add relevant images, diagrams, and videos to Wikimedia Commons. See Commons:Welcome for how to upload and license media.

• Translation: Translate existing articles into other languages to spread knowledge globally.

• Discussion and Coordination: Join the project talk page and relevant WikiProject forums to share ideas. Help develop glossaries, reference lists, and project plans collaboratively.

• Outreach and Organization: Organize or join editathons, workshops, or contests; use Meta resources like the Outreach Dashboard to report events. Publicize Wiki4Disarmament activities on social media and at peace-focused events.

• General Contribution: Every kind of contribution helps. Adding citations, fixing typos, or categorizing pages are as valuable.

Contact

If you work with the United Nations, a non-governmental organization, or are involved in research, policy, or advocacy related to disarmament or arms control, and would like to collaborate, please reach out to the core members:

• Raydann,
  Wikimedian-in-Residence, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
• Alnitak-Alnilam-Mintaka

Completed tasks

To see the full list of completed tasks and contributions to this initiative, please check Wiki4Disarmament/contributions.

To do

Creating the following article(s):

• Vienna Conference on humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons
• Hiroshima action plan

See also

• Wikipedia for Peace
• WikiForHumanRights
• Wikimedians for Sustainable Development

External links

• United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
• Conference on Disarmament
• First Committee of the UN General Assembly