Yesterday, during the plenary meeting of the Disarmament Conference (CD), there was a debate on the relationship between disarmament and development. In his speech, Ambassador Leonardo Bencini referenced what President Mattarella said at the United Nations a few days ago, specifically that “Peace, inclusion, and justice are the irreplaceable pillars in sustainable development” and warned that too many “conflicts are gobbling up enormous resources into the arms race, deallocating them from development“.
Ambassador Bencini then indicated how the current international context has a direct negative influence on disarmament efforts and impacts military spending. On the other hand, it is important to focus on the human and economic costs of conflicts. When military expenditures have the merit of preventing conflicts, this must be taken into consideration.
As concrete examples of the positive relationship between disarmament and development, Ambassador Bencini cited the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Biological Weapons Convention dedicated to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and biotechnology respectively, and demining activities, which reclaim land for agricultural and tourism use. The statement is available at the following link and audio.
