The ITUC seeks to regulate weapons to reduce armed conflict

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has expressed concern about the spread of weapons used in conflicts around the world.

The World Union body said military spending is at record highs because international agreements regulating weapons of mass destruction are being pushed aside by the very countries that have them, while new weapons with terrifying potential are being produced and used, and nationalist and ethnic intolerance continues to grow.

She noted that the collapse of multilateralism and the replacement of real dialogue with belligerent rhetoric pose a grave threat to humanity, as shown by the limited ambition behind the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty adopted this month by the United Nations in New York.

According to the body, the structures, institutions and processes that developed after the second half of the last century have served to prevent global conflicts for decades, but have failed to prevent many local and regional conflicts and are now at risk like never before.

The ITUC implored nations’ leaders to make 2022 a year of peace – a year in which common security replaces national security as their primary goal.

He maintained that achieving and maintaining peace is hard work, but it is work that must be done, stating that “common security must be our global goal so that those who today live in the shadow of war or under the threat of war can emerge from the crisis.” ” free yourself from trauma and fear and live in peace and dignity. “Never again should we tolerate armed conflicts or confrontations between states that involve people killing each other.”

She stressed that the achievement and maintenance of peace can only be built on the security and dignity of people’s lives, in line with the ILO Constitution, which states that universal and lasting peace can only be established when it is based on social justice.

The ITUC stressed that peace must be built on the cornerstone of a new social contract in which rights, wages and decent jobs are guaranteed, governments are accountable, and the global economy is transformed into one based on justice, equality and an end to corporate impunity.

He further stated that it is crucial to transform arms production into socially useful production, based on the just conversion of the workers and communities concerned, stating that this will make an important contribution to achieving a zero-emission future, ensuring social protection for all while taking into account public health and realizing the positive potential social and economic of new technologies and digitalization.

ITUC also noted that 2022 must also be the year when the world truly confronts the pervasive and oppressive reality of violence against women and girls in conflict zones and workplaces.

He added: “The official statistics are bad enough, but they only reflect the scope of this scourge. Our common security, built on the foundations of democracy and a new social contract, must be the leading path for all countries in this new year and beyond.”