Founded as an office under the United Nations Secretariat in January of 1998, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) has the designated goal of ensuring multilateral disarmament on an international scale, under strict United Nations supervision. Since its founding, UNODA has served as a fundamental organ in fostering civil relations between member states, and preventing military confrontations through diplomacy. The office has also focused on matters like counter-terrorism measures, weaponry regulations, and the non-proliferation of nuclear arms. In the modern world, UNODA actively collaborates with other sub-bodies of the UN, such as the Disarmament Commission and the General Assembly’s First Committee. For the aforementioned reasons, UNODA’s mission is closely aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

Given the fact that mutual disarmament can only be carried out at the global level through cooperation and collaboration, these goals also match the theme of Koç JMUN 2026: “Rebuilding Institutional Credibility in a Time of Volatile Dissension.” In this year’s conference, both of the agenda items were selected from contemporary issues that have proven to be long-lasting, with no effective solutions from any parties involved. Thus, delegates will only be able to tackle these problems by embracing diplomatic discourse, and focusing on a single, underlying goal: restoring global trust in disarmament mechanisms. During this process, delegates will have to work in close collaboration with each other, in order to determine a roadmap towards permanent peace and security- while also reinforcing the international community’s faith in the United Nations.