UNIDIR's Centre of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security: Forum launch​

Fire. Josephine tells, she says that all right uh everyone ladies and gentlemen excellencies may I please ask that we all take our seats so we can have a prompt start to the side event um held by unidir Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, excellencies, colleagues. Welcome to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, or UNIDIR's, Center of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security Forum launch side event. My name is Dr. Yasmina Fina. I'm a researcher and military AI lead with UNIDIR, and I will have the pleasure of moderating today's discussion. So Today we will be walking, I'll walk you through quickly with the agenda and then we will proceed with a series of welcoming and opening remarks. Before then we go on a panel and then leave room for an open discussion with the room. So on that note, thank you very much for joining us. And I will hand the floor to our director, Dr. Robin Geiss, for welcoming remarks before then proceeding with opening remarks by the High Representative, Izumi Nakamitsu. Robin, please, you have the floor.

Thank you, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends. Thank you very much for joining us and welcome to this side event on UNIDIR's Center of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security and the forum that we're launching today. The question in front of us really is no longer, you know, what AI will do and whether it will have an impact. It really is how it will unfold in international peace and security. It's moving rapidly, as we're all too aware, from development into real world applications and from the military domain also into wider security settings. The need for research, for shared insights and for coordinated engagement is more evident and also more urgent than ever before. We're really keen at UNIDIR to muster and assemble all the expertise that we can possibly get on this extremely complex topic. Now, thankfully, the international community is not short of ideas or initiatives when it comes to addressing the implications of AI and autonomy in these very sensitive domains. Since 2024, there have been a series of resolutions in the first committee on AI in the military domain. The topic now crops up quite regularly at the Security Council, the Conference on Disarmament, and also the Human Rights Council. Beyond the UN too, there are more and more important state-led initiatives at the international, the regional, and national levels. The Re-AIM initiative, of course, catalyzed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea, and to be held next in Kenya, 2027. The ASEAN Defense Ministers Meetings, and a growing number of national strategies and frameworks on AI in defense and security around the world. Efforts such as these take up different aspects of the AI challenge with different mandates and with different constituencies. All of these efforts, of course, have a role to play, but there does exist an opportunity to strengthen connections between them and to minimize duplication. As things stand today, and despite growing policy and technical interest, the current landscape of military AI governance initiatives is still quite fragmented and uneven across regions and policy domains. While AI itself is, of course, fundamentally cross-cutting and general purpose, the sectors developing and applying it often remain quite siloed, and knowledge and expertise remains rather scattered. And at the same time, this technology is rapidly reshaping military affairs and wider security dynamics with very significant implications for civilian protection and for global stability. Now, recognizing a lack of capacity, a lack of coherence and consistency in existing efforts to get to grips with these issues. In June 26, we at UNIDIR launched UNIDIR's Center of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security. Based in Geneva, the center aims to confront the challenges of military AI head on through our research and convening activities. It does this by consolidating knowledge and expertise, enabling more structured dialogue among key stakeholders, and supporting translation of principles into practice through research. If there's one key takeaway from these remarks, it is that UNIDIR's new center provides now a more permanent, impartial, and inclusive home within the United Nations for comprehensive, continuous research and discussion of AI security implications. And rather than reinventing the wheel or crowding an already very busy space, The center seeks to act as the connective tissue between the multilateral, international, regional, and national levels. The center builds on UNIDIR's established research expertise and convening work, including the Global Conference on AI, Security, and Ethics, the AI, Peace, and Security Portal, and various initiatives advancing responsible AI in the military domain. During this week in New York alone, the center has already organized a dialogue on the nonproliferation of military AI to malicious non-state actors, as well as the launch of dedicated guidelines for the development of national strategies on AI in defense and security. Just this morning, we kicked off a series of targeted consultations with the private sector, government, the expert community, and members of the wider UN ecosystem. to unpack what responsible industry behavior means in the context of AI in the military domain. Tomorrow, these consultations will continue, and we're also launching a project to develop a descriptive lexicon on AI, peace, and security tomorrow afternoon. You're naturally all welcome to join us for these two events tomorrow, and we look forward to seeing you there. Now, I want to stress also that the center was established to be inclusive by design. And indeed, we're here today in this event to launch the one central initiative that best embodies this principle of inclusiveness, the Multi-Stakeholder Forum. I'll go into greater depth on the what, the who, the why, and the what next of the forum in just a moment. But before I do this, I'll hand the floor over to our distinguished speakers. First off is Her Excellency Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. The next speaker is His Excellency Oliver Hoener, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations here in New York. And then His Excellency Muhammad Usman Iqbal Yadun, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York. We will proceed in that order, and with this, High Representative Izumi, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Robin. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and dear friends, it is really a great pleasure to be here today at this side event. And I actually have to say that not too long ago, I was in Geneva celebrating the launch of this UNIDIR Center of Excellence on AI, and I think it was in June. So this is certainly not the first time that I talk about this. And that event in Geneva took place in the beautiful Palais des Nations. And today, I think the center is really becoming operational, and its forum is open to expressions of interest. And I'm very happy to see that the different dimensions of the issues related to AI in peace and security is already starting to be addressed. Now, the birth of this center is really timely. During last month's general debate of the General Assembly, we all know that nearly every one of the speakers at the GA general debate talked about the impact of AI on every facet of our lives. And there were more than 200 side events related to AI in the margins of the High-Level Week. And this is really reflected by the amount of attention devoted to this issue by states and also by various private sector entities and multilateral bodies, both within and outside the United Nations, to the opportunities and challenges presented by AI on both sides. Important steps have also been taken to assess the impact of AI in international peace and security. The General Assembly's two resolution on AI in the military domain have been important developments, especially for us. The report of the Secretary General published last year on this subject and the informal exchanges on AIMD this year, also in Geneva, have given states the opportunity to share their views and priorities regarding the role of artificial intelligence in the military domain. Nevertheless, the UN's consideration of AI in the military domain, I would say, is still at its infancy. There is a clear demand, I see, for technical analysis, evidence-based research, and a trusted pool of expertise. The Centre will play a key role in meeting this demand, I really hope, I trust, and can help foster transparency and cooperation and strengthen capacities amongst member states, and that's the primary objective of this Centre. Now, in this context, I am particularly pleased to celebrate the opening of the Centre's forum to expressions of interest. As a multi-stakeholder platform for global engagement, exchange, and collaboration, this forum will be an important venue for engaging with the actors from the private sector, academia, and civil society that are driving forward the technological development of AI and also thinking around its governance. Significant technical and logistical expertise in AI applications lies in the non-governmental and non-military sectors, as we all know. And tapping into this pool of expertise is essential for a comprehensive discussion also in AI in the military domain governance, one that is up to date with the fast pace of technological developments. Furthermore, inclusive inputs and exchanges of perspectives and information across the AI ecosystem, both in and around the United Nations, can provide opportunities for capacity building for states, but more importantly, connect states to encourage confidence and trust through increased transparency and cooperation. This is especially important in the context of military AI applications, I think. AI's ability to compress timeframes by automating various functions could lead to snap judgments in the military decision-making process. This could heighten security concerns among states and increases the risk of misunderstanding, miscalculation, and also unintended escalation. So we must seek ways to reduce these risks and enhance transparency among member states. The work of the center to provide rigorous research will help create a common factual understanding that can form the basis for trust and confidence building. The Forum's collection and dissemination of voluntary inputs, exchanges of best practices and information sharing will serve as an opportunity for States to take practical steps in this regard. In this context, transparency and confidence-building measures can play an important role. The greater exchanges on doctrines, policies, risk management practices, and safeguards can help reduce uncertainty and misperception. So dialogue can also help states develop a clearer understanding of where practices converge, where concerns remain, and where practical measures could reduce risks. So I am confident that the center and its dedicated forum will serve as a useful platform for dialogue, cooperation, and practical action as the multilateral discussions on AI in the military domain and its implications to international peace and security moves forward in the coming months and years. So we look forward to continuing and further building on our partnership with Unidear in this regard. A lot of expectations on your shoulders, and we would definitely work together with the broader member states, but also other stakeholders in the community. Thank you very much for your attention, and back to you.

We'll go next directly to the next speaker, please.

Thank you very much, High Representative. So now I would like to call Ambassador Usman Jadoon, acting permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, and then Ambassador Oliver Hohner, deputy permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. Ambassador, please, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Dr. Afina. High Representative Nakamitu, thank you very much for your remarks. Dr. Geis, thank you for your remarks. colleagues and friends. It is a pleasure for Pakistan to co-organize this event with Switzerland and UNIDIR, and especially to share this panel with my dear colleague and dear friend, Oliver. Pakistan and Switzerland have worked side by side on this center since its inception, and I am glad that partnership has now traveled from Geneva to New York. Let me also congratulate UNIDIR on taking the center from concept to launch in such a short span of time. Pakistan's support for the center grows out of a long engagement on this issue. Since 2014, Pakistan has been advocating in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons for a legal instrument on lethal autonomous weapon systems and highlighting the principles of human judgment and control as essential ingredients for compliance with international humanitarian law. We also recognized early that autonomous weapons are only part of the picture. In 2023, Pakistan presented a working paper to the Conference on Disarmament, calling for the security and stability implications of military AI to be addressed through an arms control lens. We co-sponsored resolutions in the first committee on artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security. Submitted our national views to the Secretary General. And in June 2025, hosted in Islamabad, the RE-AIM regional consultations together with the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and Spain, facilitated by UNITAR. And this June, we took an active part in the first UN-mandated exchanges on AI in the military domain in Geneva. Throughout, our message has been consistent. Governance of military AI must be inclusive. It must be anchored in the UN. And it must address not only how individual systems are designed and used, but the wider risks to regional and international security and stability. Escalation, the compression of decision-making time, and the interaction of AI with nuclear weapons. Responsible use is necessary, but it is not sufficient. States will continue to hold different views on these questions, but whatever our positions, progress in multilateral forum depends on a shared understanding of the technology, how it is being used, and the risks it carries. That understanding remains uneven, and there are still few places where states, experts, and industry can examine these questions together in an objective setting and over a sustained period. That is why Pakistan chose to be among the founding partners of this UNIDIR Center on AI, Peace, and Security. Let me highlight four areas where we see its value. First, continuity. There are several initiatives in this area within and outside the UN. Each makes a useful contribution, but they move on separate tracks and timelines with limited connection between them. What has been missing is a standing platform that follows these discussions over time, brings their findings together, and makes them available to all states. the center will add most value by serving and strengthening the intergovernmental processes, including here in the first committee. Second, inclusivity. The knowledge gap between a small number of technologically advanced actors and the rest of the international community is felt most acutely by developing countries. Many delegations from the global south cover dozens of files with small teams. Practical tools, training, and accessible analysis can make a real difference to how fully they are able to engage. We welcome the objectives of capacity building and the participation of the Global South being built into the Center's design. Third, the research agenda. We encourage the Center to give due weight to strategic level risks, including escalation dynamics, conventional nuclear entanglement, and arms racing, alongside operational and legal questions. This is where the consequences of getting governance wrong would be gravest, and where independent, evidence-based analysis is most needed. Fourth is the forum, the forum we are launching today. It offers governments, international organizations, industry, academia, and civil society a sustained space to meet and a channel to feed that exchange back into the multilateral track. It can also help bring industry into the conversation in a structured way, which has been one of the hardest problems in this field. Let me conclude with an invitation. We encourage all delegations, especially those from developing countries, as well as research institutions, industry and civil society, join the forum and to consider supporting the center politically and financially. Pakistan will remain an active partner in the center's work, and we look forward to the first meeting of the forum. I thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Ambassador. And now I would like to please give the floor to Ambassador Oliver Hunner, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. Ambassador, please.

Thank you, Yasmine. High Representative, Dr. Guy, Excellencies, dear colleagues, it's a real pleasure to co-host this briefing with our dear friends. from the permanent mission of Pakistan, the Ambassador Jadoon. Thank you for your partnership and I could almost have joined a joint statement for this because I think we can subscribe to so much of what you have said. It was mentioned the Kypes was just launched a few months ago. We were honored to have you there at the very beginning and we're honored to have you here today. And yet so much has happened in that short span of time. It feels like time is again sort of accelerating. The high level week was mentioned, that was one of those moments. And as we look back from our point of view, there is already three areas where the existence of the center makes a difference and will continue to make. First, we see that AI has become mainstream. in our conversations. Not long ago, military AI was a specialist subject for a handful of delegations in Geneva, and this year it ran through the entire first committee general debate from every region and across every cluster, be that conventional, cyber or nuclear. The debate also has shifted in nature. It's no longer a question of whether AI will change warfare, but it's about how to keep it under meaningful human control. Second, the attention globally seems to be shifting more and translating into concrete results. The clearest example of that is the consensus that was achieved at the GGE on lethal autonomous weapons system laws. After more than a decade of discussions, states have shown that they can agree on substance. And I think there's even at the meta level a significant message here. It is possible if we configure it correctly, we can still find agreement. We see a number of examples in other thematic areas, and this is a very important one. We do hope that this momentum will now also carry forward into other negotiations, such as the one on CCW. towards a legally binding instrument. And in this world, in this order, where a lot seems to be shifting, it's very important that we emphasize always, again and again, the importance of international law and try to advance that wherever we can a little step further. And third, it was mentioned, we see interesting types coming from all regions. So co-hosting it today with my dear friend from Pakistan sends a clear message. This is not a topic that is confined to any one region or any one political group. It's really something for all of us. And it's not just for member states. It's also for researchers, civil society, and the industry that was mentioned that are engaging with the center. And their expertise is, of course, indispensable. So we have to have this dialogue. We take note with appreciation that the resolution on AI in the military domain led by the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea welcomes the center explicitly and sets up the structured dialogue in Geneva for the next two years. We believe that's a good step in the right direction. The center you mentioned is a dialogue, is a format for dialogue. I would add to that, it's also a connector, and you alluded to that, in terms of connecting these different processes and giving us a little bit of sense of order and structure into all that is happening worldwide. It prepares the ground for these structured dialogues, it keeps up momentum, and it builds capacity so that all states can take part on an equal footing. And I think that's a really important point. And we're pleased to report a little bit as a side remark that in Geneva today, we have permanent representation by 187 member states. We've never had that in the past. So we're just missing six and we're getting ever closer to that. And I think that really fosters that inclusivity that all member states, wherever they're based, as small as they may be, can meaningfully participate in in-person conversations. But in order for all of that to work, and I'll close with that, we need everyone's support. So I joined a call that you have mentioned for everyone to consider how you can be a part of that. Also, in view, of course, of the AI summit that will take place in June in Geneva. This is a route to Geneva that we are going along with all of you, and we're working with CAIPs and partners for concrete contributions. We're also pleased that AI, peace and security will feature prominently at that summit. And so we look forward for CAIP's contribution in helping us get there and then also carry forward results from that summit, including a framework for responsible industry behavior that we're working on with UNIDIR and partners at the moment. And that would be an example of what we hoped to achieve from that summit, a very concrete step, not just a one-off, but a strong moment in a continuum of engagements that we have. Thank you so much, and I look forward to the rest of the conversation.

Thank you very much, Ambassador. And now I would like to give the floor to Dr. Robin Geiss, Director for an Invitation for Engagement to the Center's Forum and its formal launch. Dr. Geiss, please.

Yes. Well, first off, sincere thanks to our three speakers here on the panel, the representatives from Pakistan, Switzerland, and the High Representative for your support for the Center, for being here with us today, of course, but also for your important support for all the work that the Center is really about to dive into. So, Excellencies, you've heard about the role and the value of the Center. And I think it's my role now to lay out to you in some more detail what the forum actually is that we're launching here today. Who do we hope to engage with? And how will we develop it in the coming months and years? So first to the what. The forum represents the center's core mechanism for structured multi-stakeholder engagement. It's as simple as that. It ensures the center's long-term relevance and effectiveness by providing a dedicated, impartial space for consultation, collaboration, the exchange of insights, and dissemination of knowledge across the wider ecosystem dealing with AI. At the same time, it has no decision-making power or formal advisory role within the center's governance structure. It really is a forum for engagement and our vehicle to assemble as many insights and perspectives as we possibly can. The who. The forum's participants will be a broad range, the more the merrier, of stakeholder organizations, governments, scientific and technical communities, the private sector, civil society, academic institutions, and sister agencies across the wider UN ecosystem. Participation in the forum does not imply endorsement of UNIDIR or the Center, nor does it entail any binding commitments. Third, the why. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we appreciate that the international community is not short on ideas or initiatives. Governments, industry, civil society organizations, and research labs, academic institutions are all hard at work in this space, generating a wealth of perspectives and approaches that ideally could feed into and reinforce the work of the center and the wider international community. The forum will provide an inclusive, impartial platform where perspectives from across all these sectors and regions can be connected with one another and ideally catalyzed. We hope in particular that the forum will go beyond the Geneva and New York circles to amplify perspectives that are often underrepresented, whether due to limitations in opportunity, limitations in resources, visibility, or capacity. The forum will also allow UNIDIR and the Center to make our work more accessible and more accountable. It will allow us to diffuse our research insights on the one hand, but also, and importantly for us, to hear from and learn from forum members on the other to inform our research. The forum will not only ensure coherence between our work and your work, it will also incubate dynamic, mutually beneficial new partnerships. And this relates naturally to the question of why you might want to join the forum, and we certainly hope that you will. For a start, You will gain direct access to immediate research, cutting edge research, the latest analysis and practical resources that transcend sectors, regions, disciplinary boundaries and geopolitical barriers in a way that only the United Nations can. Your participation in the forum will also keep your finger on the pulse of developments in this fast moving domain of AI, peace and security at the multilateral, the international, the regional and national levels. And of course, active involvement in the forum enables your organization to share its own work on AI with a uniquely global, cross-sectoral, high-level expert audience in an arena where it can have a real impact. Sharing and comparing through the forum will also provide the opportunity for collaborations and partnerships, whether between UNIDIR and the wider international community or among the forum members themselves. So it will help hopefully to avoid duplication, identify areas of complementarity, and develop mutually reinforcing initiatives. And finally, on the what next, organizations interested in participating are all invited to submit an expression of interest through a form that we've just made available on our website. And I luckily can say we've just patched our website from the great hiccup that we've seen globally, so it's ready for you to go. And for those here in the room, the flyers you see around you have a QR code that leads directly to the center's web page, where you will find the link to the form. For those colleagues following us online, please go to our website directly. You'll find the link on the dedicated web page of the center. UNIDIR will review all submissions with the aim of ensuring balanced and diverse representation across stakeholder communities, and participation will be subject to UNIDIR's final confirmation. The forum will then convene twice a year, with one of the two meetings taking place the day before UNIDIR's Global Conference on AI, Security and Ethics. We're really trying to synergize there. And other engagements, such as thematic consultations and workshops, may be organized, of course, as part of the Center's activities in due course. We very much look forward to receiving your expressions of interest and to your participation in the forum's discussion in the future. I thank you all.

Thank you very much for this invitation to join the Center of Excellences Forum. Again, you will find flyers with a QR code to join the Center's forum on your tables for those joining us in person. So now I would like to open the floor for a moderated exchange with our panelists, with you, Nidhir, if you have any remarks, any insights, any contributions you would like to share in terms of how, for example, you've been able to engage with the Center so far, any reflections on what the Center or the Forum could be doing, or if you have any questions around our work. So I will now open the floor. Please, you have the floor. Thank you.

Thank you for the initiative, for the invitation. I'm the permanent representative for Italy for disarmament. First of all, we are proud to be among the earliest supporters of the center and hopefully also the forum. And we will be going along this line, so this is also for the future. We are also very proud that we contributed with some knowledge inside UNIDIR and exactly before and during the setup of the center. And some direct contributors are here in the room and without naming them, I would really like to thank those who, including from Italy, contributed to this endeavor. On the forum, usually at the UN, you are very ambitious, but on the why, in your last point on why, I think you could also add a little bit of ambition on being global, because the wording that you use in explaining why the forum is meaningful, will be meaningful, I think that, uh, the, the UN, the UN umbrella under which you, you work, uh, gives you a, a span that nobody else has. Okay, being overly ambitious at the outset is sometimes not good. I share this view. But otherwise, well, I imagine other forums, similar forums already exist, but there must be just one with such a global vocation. So I would, that reference to that would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

I'll react with pleasure. Thank you, Ambassador. And yes, I can only, you know, echo what you said about being global. That is the beauty, of course, of this particular undertaking. I'm delighted to say that UNIDIR's research gets downloaded in 193 countries. I do think that's a unique selling point for the Institute as a whole. I'm not aware of any other think tank that gets read so widely around the world. And of course, this is UNIDIR, generally the Institute, but we want to leverage this reach and this credibility, which I hope we enjoy widely. Also for the important work on AI, and not least since this is such a sensitive issue and the purpose of the whole forum is.

Of excellence on AI, peace and security. One question I had whilst hearing you was what is what are some of the demand signals from your side that civil societies can bring so as to have a more like force multiplier effect. I think it's a great initiative because it really would act as an umbrella bringing multiple efforts that we are seeing coming up but in very different capacities and bandwidth. So I think like this would really put like a global face to the effort which is great. But I'm curious in what capacities can civil help also trying to understand what is the demand signal and then one year on from now, how would you define success? So if you look back, what are some of the milestones you think that you would want to achieve in the next 12 months, which would give more credibility to the center of excellence. At IST, we are leading a humongous multi-year project on how AI is getting integrated in nuclear command, control and communication system. So we are speaking to very senior high level decision makers within the United States. But every time we talk about our project, we understand that this effort also needs to be multilateral. So hence, once again, congratulations and really keen to be included in this process and want to bring forth things that would help you and this effort more robustly. Thank you.

I'm happy to respond directly. Thank you very much for your intervention. What would success look like? I mean, for the center itself, it's a fairly broad undertaking. There's lots of research initiatives. We launched some of them here this week. One is about AI nonproliferation to malicious actors. The other is the AI lexicon, because we often that when you say things like autonomy, artificial intelligence, safety, security, it can mean very different things to different entities. So if we want to advance all of those, certainly within the next 12 months. But in terms of the forum, which we're discussing here today, success would be to reach inclusiveness or very broad diversity of different actors that are being part of it very soon. That is certainly a success indicator. That's the whole idea. And then from the forum, we ideally want to distill golden nuggets. Um, and this is the demand also for civil society. You know, we want to separate hype from reality. We want to be very focused on real world problems that need solving. And we feel for this we need a broadband expertise group to really make sure we're looking at the right things because there's so much with AI, peace and security. You can burn a lot of time going all over the place. We want to be focused. So the forum, the ideas also, it helps us to maintain that focus, to identify some golden nuggets that maybe we would have missed in terms of golden nuggets for me are research questions that are urgently require further pursuit by an look like unidea that's the demand and that's also then the success if we can launch some new research initiatives or deepen knowledge on existing initiatives with items that otherwise we would have missed you know different regions in the world look very differently at some of the challenges AI is posing we really want to make sure this is reflected in our research.

Thank you very much Ambassador you would like to say.

Just got me thinking I So I thought I should also share some of my reflections. So the integration of artificial intelligence into any forms of weapon systems is risky if it's done outside of human control or without appropriate regulations. This is the whole point of what is happening in the multilateral forums now. But when this AI based integration happens with nuclear command and control, this risk can be catastrophic. And so I congratulate you on your research and whatever you are doing in this domain, it will be a service to humanity, which then this literature comes out. On your question about how civil society can help and contribute, I think civil society has a very important role to play. And this is in traditional areas like awareness raising, capacity building, advocacy, but also through your partnerships and through your participation. So your participation here or your participation in the in this forum or in other key areas where these conversations are happening is will bring new perspectives, will bring very valuable insights. So please feel more encouraged to participate more and then also partner with the there is maybe more space in the where you are working in the United States but then also partner with your country of origin or developing countries think tanks which are also working in this domain. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ambassador. Would anyone else like to take the floor in the room? Any questions, any insights, any contributions and your experience in engaging with the center so far. Kim, yes, please.

Yeah, good afternoon. Kim van der Sluis with the Netherlands. First of all, big thank you to both Pakistan, Switzerland, UNODC, and ODA for today's presentation. I think from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, we've been a staunch supporter of the Center of Excellence from day one, and we continue to support it. and I would like to also thank you for today's presentation. I would be interested to hear from you in terms of like the RE-AIM and the regional roundtables you have been conducting. How are you looking at the years ahead, I would say, in light of also all the recent developments and ongoing discussions?

Thanks. Thank you, Kim, for, first of all, also reiterating Netherlands' continued support for UNIDIR, which we really appreciate. On your question on RE-AIM, I mean, yesterday we were just at the side event hosted by the Permanent Mission of Kenya in the light of their upcoming hosting of the RE-AIM Summit, and naturally UNIDIR, we are pleased to play the role of knowledge partners in that sense by providing substantive input as much as possible, considering that REIM did indeed catalyze, first of all, in 2023, further conversations on responsible AI in the military domain. And then we're very pleased to support and facilitate the regional consultations that took place last year in 2025, including in Pakistan. So I think moving ahead, the center stands ready to support Kenya and the co-hosts for the upcoming summit and also any adjacent activities, including the regional consultations that are set to take place ahead of the summit. We stand ready to support substantively and Of course, this goes as well with the tradition that at the actual summit, what we've been doing is to publish a report that aggregates and summarizes the key insights generated from the regional consultations, which we thought were incredibly insightful, not only for us at UNIDIR, but we've also heard some very positive feedback, not only from governments, but also from civil society, as well as industry. I think that The value has been that the regional consultations enabled to zoom into regional perspectives on AI in the military domain that enabled us to get insights that perhaps would have been missed at the multilateral level or international level at the summit. So in that sense, we try to also, in the spirit of playing that connective tissue role, considering the re aim does sit outside of the UN. the center by providing that technical support and by playing this role as knowledge partners. We really hope that this continued engagement with the regional consultations and the summit can help, can continue to help feed into the conversations within the UN and also at the regional and national levels. So we're very happy to support substantively and we look forward to continuing this conversation further. I also wanted to add, building on the point from Silvia, that what was really interesting from the regional consultations last year was that it was a good opportunity to engage with civil society from across different regions. back to the example of Pakistan, it was a very lively exchange with the civil society ecosystem within Pakistan. And then when we went to Kenya as well, and also in Geneva, it was incredibly interesting to hear the perspectives of civil society from across regions that helped as well to surface some issues that perhaps we would have missed again in multilateral settings. And we hope to continue to be able to not only benefit from these insights, but also to support this work to the extent possible. Yes, Ambassador, please.

Hi, thank you. So I'm Maria Vassos. I'm from Spain. First of all, thank you so much for doing this presentation. I think it's very important to bring the center to the marginally wider community here in New York. The center, UNIDIR, all the work that you have been doing, as you well know, has Spain's support, has been having it for some time now. And I just wondered, you know, now we have two resolutions here at the United Nations First Committee. We have the REIM process, the second resolution outside of the UN, the second resolution brings the process into the UN. And the center lies somewhere in the middle where knowledge is its paramount objective, research, knowledge, putting together people. And you talked, when you presented, Robin, the forum, you talked about balance, about wanting to balance the membership of that forum. So we need to to send you expressions of interest and then you need to balance it. My question is, how do you see that balance going? Do you want a percentage of government, but again, a percentage of civil society, a percentage of academia? How do you see that balance panning out and becoming a reality that That would be my first question. And how does that forum feed into or feed from or both the REAIM process that is going on outside that also has stakeholders that are not governments?

Yeah, uh, I mean, balance, uh, we're not, uh, putting an arithmetic, uh, figure, uh, to it in terms of percentage, but we certainly want a good spread, of course, all governments are welcome to join, uh, this forum, we hope they all come. But it is going to be a bit of a dynamic process, of course, as we don't know how many expressions of interest. We're optimistic, but we don't know. And then more for industry actors. There, we want diversity that's geographic and from around the world. The same for civil society organizations and academia. We want to make sure we have a good regional, global spread among those different entities, a good spread between smaller and larger entities, if possible, if very, very many come and express interest and we want this to be very, you know, colorful and well populated, then we'll probably have to look into how we best manage the amounts of of players coming to the forum. We'll do it in hybrid version. This is not going to raise any significant cost for anyone. So it will be hybrid meetings for the most time. So it'll be very manageable. So I can't put an arithmetic figure to it. We're really trying to cast a wide net. But we do want balance along, you know, sectors, types of expertise, technical or more on the policy side. That's, I think, the parameters that we're going to work with.

Thank you very much, Robin. I think you summarize it very well that the diversity and the balance is truly not just about the composition, but also the way that the forum does and conducts its work. Any further inputs or questions?

Good afternoon, thank you so much, Reto from the Swiss MFA, and thank you so much for this important presentation. I've already had a number of opportunities to work operationally directly with the Center and can only heed the call by the two DPRs who said like consider finding ways to engage with the center through the forum or in other ways. So this can become even scaled up. as we move forward. Today's presentation made me think also what the challenges are for the institution, UNITAR as an institution, to build up such a center in such a highly dynamic environment. The DPRs have referred to the increasing international attention, and we've talked about geopolitics, bringing this topic up, but also with regard to the landscape of other actors that are coming into this field, industry, different parts of industry, other institutions, think tanks, universities, other centers of excellence are popping up here and there. I mean, this is a great opportunity, of course, for the center to be a convener, co-convener and reinforce new synergies. But it's also probably a challenge to kind of make sure there is some kind of coherent way in taking forward the whole discussion on AIPs and security in the years to come. I'm intrigued to hear from you, Robin, about how you see the broader landscape evolving and the center succeeding in that landscape? Thank you so much.

Yeah, that's the million dollar question, of course. Thank you very much for it. We are building a plane while flying it. That's what this is, because the space is moving so quickly. As you say, you know, we say industry, but industry just that means so many things now. And it's changing so quickly. And it's true for research labs and academia that are popping up here and there. So we can only do this by also regularly revisiting, you know, where we are, where is the landscape around us. And maybe we have to adapt then a little and rethink the approach. Maybe we get a million expressions of interest and then we have to see how we can manage all this. The topic is super hot just now. So it will take a bit of a dynamic approach, but with a very clear focus and a clear mission for the forum, I think we're well set up, you know, to now take it forward. Clearly, this topic is complex and extremely technical, extremely sensitive. I really have the feeling also now that, you know, after all the high level statements and everyone has spoken to AI in this way or another, when it comes to research and the questions and conundrums that we really need to resolve, it's getting more difficult. We're moving on to kind of next level research to some actually really hard questions how these models are built, What kind of safeguards would really be adequate? What can be considered? What cannot be considered? Where is common ground? There is a lot to unpack just from a research perspective. So it won't get boring, I can assure you that. And I also think dealing with such a complex issue where, of course, there's divided views and perspectives, this is from the start, this is the starting point, we know that there's divided views. The center and the forum can also be an experiment in how we can tackle these extremely broad and complex and sensitive issues under difficult international circumstances. So ideally, it can do both, deliver cutting edge research, but also be a bit of a model of how we can lay groundwork, do research on an international level, and approach such a big topic like AI in the military domain.

Are there any further questions or reflections from the room? Just want to make sure I'm not missing anyone. If not, then perhaps we'll move to the closing and also give a bit of time and break before the next session. So perhaps I'll give the floor to our panelists for some short reflections on today's conversations, the way ahead, before I give the floor to Robin for the closing.

Thank you very much. It was really an honor and a pleasure to be present here to share the podium with the Ambassador Hone of DPR of Switzerland and UST Nakamitsu and Dr. Geiss from UNIDIR. And thank you for your moderation, Dr. Fina. What I said in my remarks earlier, I'd like to only reaffirm that We hope all stakeholders will see the value of this initiative and engage with it, participate in it, join it. And like Robert said, it's a very fast moving domain. I personally participated in the CCW meeting of states parties in 2013 when the first conversation on laws, lethal autonomous weapon systems, the decision was adopted. And it started with an informal working group and then it moved to a more formal group of governmental experts. And it was not too long ago, 13 years ago, and it was like a sci-fi type of conversation. And know the member states, or at least not I, we did not have a full understanding of what weapon systems we were talking about and how they would evolve. And it looked like a distant sci-fi. But today, 13 years later, these are no longer about fiction. They are reality. They have been integrated into weapon systems, into virtually every aspect of our lives. And this very, very fast exponential growth carries risks because a lot of it, when it is unregulated or outside human control or completely run away, if it was any other technology too, it would have had a risk. So it requires a genuine and a deliberate conversation to regulate that risk, to mitigate that risk. And any and every contribution to that effort is most welcome, and this effort through Unity is a remarkable one. So we are very happy to be a part of it and to participate in this conversation and hear such valuable insights. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Very, very pleased to be to be part of this. And maybe just to reflect on the term of multi stakeholder approaches, that's something that we we say so much that sometimes it's important to remember why that is important and what is really behind that and also looking at high level week Those events that combined member states with the UN, with industry, were I think the most meaningful ones, because there you have this meeting of perspectives that then makes us go further, and then there's civil society, there's expertise, et cetera. In the UN reform context, we often speak about the need for evidence base. So it's not just opinions that we have, it's really about getting all these facts and the research, the nuggets you've referred to. So just to emphasize how important that is to bring us forward and not to just stay with the feeling of being overwhelmed. I think we all have agency, but in order for that agency to be sort of reasonable and well thought through, we need all these elements from these different stakeholders. Otherwise, we will feel lost and maybe be lost. So thanks.

Well, that leaves only very few things left to do. First off, again, sincere thanks to Pakistan, Switzerland, and the High Representative for joining us here today. Bini is voluntary funded and so is the center, so I would be remiss not to thank the center's donors. This is France, Germany, Italy, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Microsoft, and FAJI. FAJI is the Foundation for the Adaptation of International Geneva, and they have provided a large rather large startup fund, which will see us through the first years of the center's existence, which is fantastic. I should also thank Dr. Giacomo Persi-Paoli, who is joining us here today. He's a good friend. He has since moved on from Unidea, but he is clearly one of its intellectual fathers. We are also quite confident that the diversity of our donor base for the center will grow in the coming months. and I'm glad to say that, uh, planning is already underway for the first meeting of the forum, which we aim to hold in mid-November in Geneva in the margins of the review conference, uh, of the convention on certain conventional weapons when we have lots of stakeholders in town. We very much hope that you will all join us for the forum, for research activities, and other convenings that the center will undertake in the future. And I very much hope to be engaging with you on those occasions. Thank you all very much for coming and for engaging with us today.