Conventional Weapons Diversion and Young Women and Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI) Mentorship Alumni Regional Meeting in Brussels
2025-04-15 15:00 - 18:30 (Europe/Paris)
The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP and the International Affairs Institute (IAI), on behalf of the EU Non-Proliferation Consortium and in the framework of the Young Women Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI) organized the first Mentorship Alumni meeting in Brussels and a webinar on Conventional Weapons Diversion featuring Dr. Nils Duquet.
The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) and the International Affairs Institute (IAI), within the framework of the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI), organized the first Mentorship Alumni Regional Meeting for participants of the YWNGI Mentorship Programme. The event was held on 15 April 2025 at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, in collaboration with the Flemish Peace Institute.
Participants in the Alumni Regional Meeting
The meeting brought together mentors and mentees based in Brussels and surrounding areas, representing both current and past cohorts of the YWNGI Mentorship Programme. This format enabled participants to engage in in-person discussions, share experiences, and strengthen their network, while reflecting on the four editions of the Mentorship Programme.
Selected Mentees at the Alumni Regional meeting
The event was opened by Ettore Greco, Executive Vice-President at IAI, who spoke about the origins of the Mentorship Programme, its goals and challenges, and emphasized the importance of in-person meetings as a way to gather inputs from participants and strengthen their network and sense of community. He also moderated remarks delivered by Pedro Arostegui, Chair of the Council’s Working Group on Non-Proliferation at the EEAS, Sibylle Bauer, Director of Studies, Armament and Disarmament at SIPRI and Chair of the EUNPDC, and Nils Duquet, Director at the Flemish Peace Institute.
From left to right: Ettore Greco, Sibylle Bauer, Pedro Arostegui, Nils Duquet
Pedro Arostegui highlighted the core belief behind the programme: that the voices, insights, and ideas of young women are essential in addressing today’s global challenges. He emphasized that this belief is central to the European Union’s approach, which acknowledges that collective security relies not only on policies and institutions but also on the strength of people-to-people networks — such as those built through the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative and its Mentorship Programme.
Empowering youth – especially young women – is not just the right thing to do, but a strategic imperative for building resilient, inclusive security frameworks”.
“The EU is proud to support initiatives like the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative —and to see how it has grown from a pilot project into a growing community of young female experts and future leaders.
Sibylle Bauer and Nils Duquet, both mentors and Advisory Board members since the programme’s inception, shared their perspectives on its evolution. They underscored how the initiative has grown into a vibrant and expanding community and reaffirmed their strong support for its mission. As the programme enters its fourth edition, the speakers expressed keen interest in understanding the impact it has had on mentees.
From left to right: Ksenija Trajkovska, Bianca Voican, Fer Avar, Amanda Narhan Pereira, Karen Van Loom, Precious Eze
The event continued with a Roundtable discussion among mentors and mentees, moderated by Paola Tessari, Senior Fellow at IAI. After brief introductions, mentees reflected on their experiences in the programme and how it shaped their professional aspirations. For some, it sparked new areas of interest; for others, it expanded their knowledge of the field. All mentees emphasized the value of the relationships formed: from professional networking and participation in high-level conferences to lasting personal connections and friendships. The roundtable also featured suggestions for improving the programme and highlighted the importance of fostering connections across different cohorts to strengthen the growing community.
From left to right: Ettore Greco, Federica Dall’Arche, Nils Duquet
The regional meeting also featured a hybrid lecture by Dr. Nils Duquet, moderated by Federica Dall’Arche, Senior Associate at the VCDNP. Dr. Duquet addressed the issue of conventional weapons diversion, explaining how legally traded arms can be diverted into illicit markets throughout their lifecycle.
He outlined international normative frameworks and initiatives aimed at curbing the illicit proliferation of such weapons and discussed the involvement of non-state actors — including religious extremists and far-right groups. Duquet also explored how emerging technologies, such as 3D printing, are being used to manufacture firearms and how arms trafficking has fuelled both past and ongoing conflicts. The lecture concluded with an interactive Q&A session.
The VCDNP and IAI warmly thank the Flemish Peace Institute for hosting the event and the European Union for the generous support in making this event possible.
The event was organized under the frameworks of the YWNGI, an initiative by the VCDNP and IAI on behalf of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium (EUNPDC), which aims to inspire young women and the next generation to explore careers in non-proliferation, arms control, and disarmament. The initiative provides mentorship, workshops, and outreach opportunities to address gender and age imbalances in the field.
More information about the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI) and the Mentorship Programme can be found below:
Mentorship Programme https://vcdnp.org/mentorship/
Young Women and Next Generation Initiative https://vcdnp.org/young-women-and-next-generation-initiative-ywngi/

Additional Resources:
Opening Statement by the EEAS
Recording of the Event
Agenda of the event

Webinar: "Conventional Weapons Diversion: Challenges and Initiatives to Counter Illicit Trafficking"
2025-04-15 16:00 - 17:45
The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) and the International Affairs Institute (IAI), in the framework of the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI) cordially invite you to a webinar entitled “Conventional Weapons diversion: challenges and initiatives to counter illicit trafficking”.
The event will feature a lecture by Dr. Nils Duquet, Director at the Flemish Peace Institute. He will speak about the diversion of Conventional Weapons and how such weapons, during their lifecycles, happen to be diverted from the legal trade into the illicit domain. Nils Duquet will also address the existing international normative frameworks and initiatives aiming at combating the illicit proliferation of such weapons.
The event will take place online on Zoom on 15 April 2025 from 16:30 to 17:30 (CEST).
Students and young specialists interested in learning more about the field of non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament are particularly encouraged to attend. The event will be held in English.
We kindly ask you to RSVP via the online registration form:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZvIGS_bFQim4_YVC7nosEA
Tentative agenda

16.00: Welcome remarks and introduction
Federica Dall’Arche, Senior Research Associate, VCDNP
Speaker
Nils Duquet, Director, Flemish Peace Institute
17.15 Q&A

17.45 Meeting Ends
Background

The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) and The International Affairs Institute (IAI), in the framework of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (EUNPD) Consortium have launched a Young Women and Next Generation Initiative (YWNGI), an initiative to encourage young women and the next generation to enter the non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament field.
Driven by the widely shared awareness of the persistent age and gender imbalances among experts and practitioners in the non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament field, the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative aims to help address such imbalances by exposing college and university level students to arms control issues, increasing awareness and encouraging participation in events and workshops. The initiative also aims to respond to the very limited offering of relevant courses on WMD issues in colleges and universities at undergraduate and master’s level. The goal is to help students understand how to pursue a career in the field, making the best use of their own skills. The Initiative includes the creation of a mentorship programme, the conveying of workshops and meetings, and the organization of outreach visits at universities.
The YWNGI is possible thanks to the generous support of the European Union.
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