The rise and fall of Professions for World Disarmament and Development

Professions for World Disarmament and Development (PWDD) began in response to the suggestion that the professions should be represented on the Council of World Disarmament Campaign. PWDD held a series of well-attended conferences at which eminent speakers discussed topics such as: the nuclear threat; the United Nations, including the outcome of the Second Special Session on Disarmament, and the possibility of a Second ('We the Peoples') Assembly; the ethical and social responsibility of the professions in respect of peace issues; peaceful development; and various aspects of global security. However, attempts to involve professional bodies such as the medical colleges, which did not regard such topics as within their remit, and the business community, perhaps because of the influence of the arms industry and arms trade, were not successful. After the end of the Cold War the momentum of PWDD diminished; some of its member organizations were wound up, and concern switched to global health, injustices, poverty and the environment. Despite a change in name to Professions for Social Responsibility in 1992, decline continued, perhaps in part due to failure to involve younger people. Its final meeting in 1995 advocated a Culture of Peace.