Forum

The Humanitarian Disarmament Forum is a gathering of activists working to advance humanitarian disarmament held in New York each October from 2012 until 2019, and virtually since then.

This page provides a summary overview of each Forum and lists the participating organizations at the end. See also the @4disarmament Twitter lists of Civil Society and Campaigners. And the Humanitarian Disarmament website established by Harvard Law School’s Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative (ACCPI) after it convened the Humanitarian Disarmament: The Way Ahead conference on 5-6 March 2018.

Chronology

2023

The Tenth Humanitarian Disarmament Forum will be held in New York on 21-22 October 2023 by co-hosts Amnesty International, Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic, and Mines Action Canada.

2020-2021

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and Soka Gakkai International convene the Ninth Humanitarian Disarmament Forum online. (See the Activities Report on Part One)

2019

The Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas, CCCM) convenes the Eighth Humanitarian Disarmament Forum.

2018

The Forum on the Arms Trade and the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) convene the Seventh Humanitarian Disarmament Forum.

2017

Human Rights Watch, PAX, and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic convene the Sixth Humanitarian Disarmament Forum. The forum looks at how to advance humanitarian disarmament in challenging political times and featured speakers such as Lindsey Asher from the Women’s March Global and Aric Toler from Bellingcat.

2016

Handicap International, Mines Action Canada, and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons convene the Fifth Humanitarian Disarmament Forum at PACE University. The 2016 forum focuses on how our community of campaigners can work for higher standards, achieve faster progress and build strengthen campaigns. It features a keynote address by Andrew Feinstein, a South African writer and filmmaker who has worked to uncover corruption in arms deals. (Agenda).

2015

Oxfam and Save the Children convene the Fourth Humanitarian Disarmament Forum at PACE University . The 2015 forum looks at how the humanitarian disarmament community can advocate to help alleviate the human suffering in conflicts that is creating humanitarian emergencies in Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and elsewhere. It features a keynote address by Osama Damo of Save the Children Canada, who describes his experience growing up and working in Gaza. (Agenda)

2014

Control Arms and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) convene the Third Humanitarian Disarmament & Arms Control Campaigns Forum at PACE University in New York. The 2014 forum focuses on the link between gender and arms, considering practical ways to advance a gendered approach to humanitarian disarmament and arms control. It features a keynote address by 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams. (Agenda, Action Plan, Background Reading List, Video)

2013

Article 36 and IKV Pax Christi (now PAX) convene the Second Humanitarian Disarmament Campaigns Forum at the UN Church Center in New York. The 2013 forum look at how movements for change become stronger and more effective when their different constituent parts work together, support each other and identify part of a wider community. Participants undertake a simulation exercise on humanitarian disarmament in the year 2023, role playing the parts of activists, governments officials, industry representatives, and journalists. (Agenda, simulation exercise, and key issues handout).

2012

Human Rights Watch convenes the inaugural Forum, entitled the Humanitarian Disarmament Campaigns Summit at the UN Church Center. The gathering is part of commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Nobel Peace Laureate. The Summit marks the first time that global civil society coalitions working to advance humanitarian disarmament had met as a whole discuss how non-governmental organizations aim to cooperate and collaborate together to advance their collective work. The participating organizations endorse a Summit Communique. The Summit feature a keynote address by then-UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary, and Arbitrary Executions Philip G. Alston, on the threats posed by “killer robots.” A “Ministry for Disarmament” blog and Twitter feed are established for the Summit and managed by Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch. (Agenda and Summary Report).