"Let us keep pushing on disarmament and non-proliferation. Let us fulfill the dream ... a world free of nuclear weapons."Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Statement at the General Assembly, 21 September 2011
Michael Douglas (second from right), UN Messenger of Peace, speaks during the inauguration ceremony of a new installation of civil society petitions calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Also present is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from left). (UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)
The annual observance of Disarmament Week, which begins on the anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, was called for in the Final Document of the General Assembly 1978 special session on disarmament (resolution S-10/2). States were invited to highlight the danger of the arms race, propagate the need for its cessation and increase public understanding of the urgent tasks of disarmament.
In 1995, the General Assembly invited governments, as well as NGOs, to continue taking an active part in Disarmament Week (resolution 50/72 B, 12 December 1995). It invited the Secretary-General to continue using United Nations information entities as widely as possible, to promote a better understanding among the public of disarmament problems, and the aims of the Week.