Marking Thirtieth Anniversary, Commemoration of Bangkok Treaty Highlights Southeast Asia’s Commitment to Advancing Peace

Youth Arts Exhibition and Regional Dialogue Highlight Continued Commitment to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Southeast Asia

BANGKOK, 15 December - Since 1995, Southeast Asia has unequivocally rejected nuclear weapons. In concluding the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone treaty in Bangkok 30 years ago, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member States reaffirmed their determination towards a region and a world free of nuclear weapons.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, will convene a three-day programme in Bangkok from 15 to 17 December 2025 to commemorate this thirtieth anniversary of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (Bangkok Treaty).

The commemoration will gather Government officials, diplomats, international and regional organizations, academics and youth representatives to reflect on three decades of regional commitment to maintaining Southeast Asia as a nuclear-weapon-free zone and to discuss future pathways for strengthening the Treaty's implementation.

A central feature of this year's commemoration is the Youth Multimedia Arts Exhibition, showcasing winning works from a regional competition supported by the Youth Leader Fund for a World without Nuclear Weapons, funded by the Government of Japan. Through photography, digital media, animation and visual design, young people translate the principles of the Bangkok Treaty - and the aspiration for a world free from nuclear weapons - into compelling artistic narratives.

The official programme will open on 15 December with remarks from senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. The ceremony will also honour the regional winners of the Youth Multimedia Arts Competition.

Over the following two days, ASEAN-based Youth Leader Fund members and competition winners will join experts and practitioners for a series of skills workshops, dialogues and youth-led activities, held in cooperation with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and local partners. These engagements aim to strengthen youth participation in disarmament, enhance regional networks, and translate the spirit of the Bangkok Treaty into innovative youth-driven initiatives.

The thirtieth anniversary of the Bangkok Treaty underscores the region's sustained commitment to bringing about the elimination of nuclear weapons and to advancing peace, stability and cooperation.

For more information, please contact Donato Guido Loforese at [email protected] or Racquel Correa at [email protected].