Disarmament plays a crucial role in maintaining global peace and security. By reducing the number of weapons and limiting their spread, disarmament prevents conflicts and criminality, reduces the risks of armed violence (including against women and girls), and minimizes the potential for mass destruction. Disarmament is critical at global, regional and country levels.

In 1980, a UN Group of Governmental Experts on regional disarmament concluded that there was potential for progress in disarmament at the regional level. The Group concluded that progress in regional disarmament could positively contribute to disarmament and ease tensions at the global level.

On that basis, the General Assembly adopted subsequent resolutions creating three Regional Centres anchored within the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and its Regional Disarmament, Information and Outreach Branch (RDIOB):

1. The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa – UNREC (A/RES/40/151). UNREC was established in January 1986 in Lomé, Togo. UNREC supports 54 Member States towards the realization of measures of peace, arms limitation and disarmament in the region. 
2. The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean – UNLIREC (A/RES/41/60 J). UNLIREC was established in 1987 in Lima, Peru. The Centre supports 33 Member States in the region in achieving peace and security through disarmament, thereby also contributing to economic and social development.
3. The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament for Asia and the Pacific – UNRCPD (A/42/39D). The Centre was established in 1989 in Katmandu, Nepal. UNRCPD supports 43 Member States by providing substantive support for initiatives and other activities mutually agreed upon for the implementation of measures for peace and disarmament.

In 1993, the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) adopted guidelines and recommendations for regional approaches to disarmament. The UNDC found that regional and global approaches to disarmament and arms limitation complemented each other and should be pursued simultaneously, in order to promote regional and international peace and security.

Each year, the General Assembly adopts several resolutions concerning regional disarmament, including on the three Regional Centres on Peace and Disarmament. The Secretary-General also presents an annual report on each of the three Regional Centres. The latest resolutions and reports can be found in the UNODA Documents Library.

Our work

UNODA implements tailored approaches to enhance regional and subregional security through disarmament and the regulation of arms. Its activities include efforts in the following areas:

• Developing and delivering capacity-building projects, legal expertise, technical tools and outreach initiatives that are tailored to the specific needs of different regions and subregions (partnership with UNIDIR in West Africa on holistic arm control to prevent armed violence).
• Strengthening national and local level engagement based on human-centred interventions and the principle of national ownership.
• Enhancing support for the implementation of regional frameworks and regional roadmaps, including through stronger cooperation with regional and subregional organizations (for example: UNODA-African Union Cooperation Matrix, Caribbean Priority Actions on the Illicit Proliferation of Firearms and Ammunition across the Caribbean in a Sustainable Manner by 2030 (Caribbean Firearms Road Map), UNODA-Organization of American States partnership around the Central American Roadmap to Prevent the Illicit Proliferation and Trafficking of Firearms and Ammunition). UNODA further enables regional, sub-regional and cross-border exchanges of disarmament good practices.
• Outreach and advocacy to promote ratification and support implementation of disarmament instruments; dissemination of best practices and lessons learned on practical disarmament and armed violence prevention and reduction; and peace, disarmament and non-proliferation education.
• Building new, and strengthening existing partnerships with regional and subregional organizations, other UN entities, and civil society organizations on policy development and joint programmes and initiatives.
• Quick-response mechanisms and quick response tools offered by UNODA to respond to peaks of armed violence or arms-related emergencies.
• Promoting inclusive approaches to disarmament (with a focus on gender and youth).

UNODA further contributes to UN-wide policy discussions and joint programming on cross-cutting issues such as: security sector reform, armed violence prevention and reduction, and gender mainstreaming.