26/04/2022 |

Berlin Press Conference ‘SIPRI Statistics on global arms spending 2021’

Watch the press conference here.

On April 25th the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published statistics on global arms spending for 2021.

In the 2021 statistics on global arms spending, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights very clearly the consequences of prioritizing military spending over the healthcare sector. At the press conference, the speakers interpreted the SIPRI statistics and explained their importance for peace and de-escalation as well as their link to COVID-19.

They also showed alternatives to armament and militarism, and stressed the need for a reallocation of money from the military to health care, education, and other programs that promote social justice.

Furthemore, the implications of the Russian aggression against Ukraine for a further intensification of global arms spending was addressed.

The following leaders in the field took part in the press conference:

Reiner Braun, Executive Director, International Peace Bureau

Maike Finnern, Chair of Education and Science Workers’ Union (online)

Michael Müller, Parliamentary Undersecretary in the Ministry of Environment a.D., Chair of Friends of Nature

Żaklin Nastić, Member of the German Bundestag, DIE LINKE

The press conference took place on Monday, April 25th, 2022 at the International Peace Bureau Office in Berlin