The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the

international community The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. As a rhetorical term Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is t ...

to negotiate

arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such a ...

agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Conference meets annually in three separate sessions in Geneva.

History

The Conference was first established in 1979 as the Committee on Disarmament as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. It was renamed the Conference on Disarmament in 1984. The Conference succeeded three other disarmament-related bodies: the

Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament The Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament (TNCD) was designed to address the issue of nuclear disarmament during the Cold War. Created through the combination of a United Nations resolution and an agreement between the Big Four powers, the TNCD began ...

(1960), the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (1962–1968) and the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (1969–1978). The Conference was created with a permanent agenda, also known as the "Decalogue", which includes the following topics: *

Nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

in all aspects * Other

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...

* Conventional weapons * Reduction of military budgets * Reduction of armed forces * Disarmament and development * Disarmament and

international security International security, also called global security is a term which refers to the measures taken by states and international organizations, such as the United Nations, European Union, and others, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These mea ...

* Collateral measures; confidence building measures; effective verification methods in relation to appropriate disarmament measures, acceptable to all parties * Comprehensive programme of disarmament leading to general and complete disarmament under effective international control Additionally, all decisions of the body must be agreed upon by consensus according to the rules and procedures of the conference.

Relationship to the United Nations

The Conference is formally independent from the United Nations. However, while it is not formally a UN organization, it is linked to it in various ways. First and foremost, the Director-General of the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

serves as the Secretary-General of the Conference. Furthermore, while the Conference adopts its own rules of procedure and agenda, the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

can pass resolutions recommending specific topics to the Conference. Finally, the Conference submits a report of its activities to the General Assembly yearly, or more frequently, as appropriate. The Conference on Disarmament Secretariat and Conference Support Branch of the

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) (french: Bureau des affaires du désarmement) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-Gen ...

, based in Geneva, provides organizational and substantive servicing to the Conference on Disarmament, the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.

Work of the Conference

Initially, the Conference and its predecessors were successful in meeting their mandate. They were instrumental in drafting numerous arms control agreements: most importantly, the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

(1968), the

Biological Weapons Convention The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpil ...

(1972), the

Chemical Weapons Convention The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for ...

(1993) and the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...

(1996). However, the work of the body was stalled for over a decade, as members were unable to agree on a work program after the passage of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Difficulties included strained relations between key players, disagreement among members on the prioritization of issues, and attempts of some countries to link progress in one area to parallel progress in other areas. Then, in 2009 a breakthrough was made by the body when it established several working groups to tackle various topics under the Conference's authority. These group focused on: negotiating a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons (FMCT), creating practical steps to reduce nuclear weapons,

Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space The Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space document is a 1981 UN resolutionSee ''Official Records of the General Assembly'', A/RES/36/97 C, 9 December 1981. (Alves 1991, I:5 note 22) that reaffirms the fundamental principles of the 1967 Outer S ...

(PAROS) and addressing negative security assurances. Due to the general dysfunction of the Conference and its limited membership, negotiations for the 2017

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal being their total elimination. It ...

took place at the United Nations, and not at the Conference.

Membership

The conference is currently composed of 65 formal members, representing all areas of the world, as well as all known

nuclear-weapon states Eight sovereign states have publicly announced successful detonation of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of acquisit ...

. Additionally, members are organized into a number of informal regional groups to facilitate their preparation for, and representation in the plenary meetings of the Conference.

Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Group of 21 (G-21)

Eastern European Group (EEG)

Group of One

Non-member States

Additionally, a number of states participate in meetings of the Conference as Non-member States:

References

External links

United Nations' page of Conference on Disarmament

Press releases of Conference on Disarmament

Disarmament insight
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Conference On Disarmament Arms control International military conferences United Nations organizations based in Geneva