Conference on Disarmament
Encyclopedia
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
to negotiate multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. Established in 1979, it was the forum used by its member states, currently numbering 65, to negotiate the Biological Weapons Convention
Biological Weapons Convention
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the...
and the Chemical Weapons Convention
Chemical Weapons Convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction...
.
While the conference is not formally a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(UN) organization, it is linked to the UN through a personal representative of the United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
; this representative serves as the secretary general of the conference. Resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly often request the conference to consider specific disarmament matters. In turn, the conference annually reports its activities to the Assembly.
The Conference succeeded the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament (1960), the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament (1962–68) and the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament
Conference of the Committee on Disarmament
The Conference of the Committee on Disarmament was a United Nations disarmament committee authorized by a General Assembly resolution. It began work in 1969 as the successor to the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament.-History:...
(1969–78).
In the 1990s, the Conference held intensive efforts over three years to draft the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty text and its two annexes, but it did not succeed in reaching consensus on the adoption of the text. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
then sent the text to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where it was submitted as a draft resolution. On 10 September 1996, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was adopted by a large majority, exceeding two-thirds of the General Assembly's Membership.
Currently under discussion are a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), a pact to prevent an arms race in outer space
Space Preservation Treaty
The Space Preservation Treaty is a proposed international treaty from October 2, 2001 to ban space weapons in whole, an expansion on part of the Outer Space Treaty, which bars States Parties to the Treaty from placing nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth,...
(PAROS), nuclear disarmament, and negative security assurances (NSA).
On June 28, 2011, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was appointed to serve a term as president of the Conference.
Despite the fact that the chairmanship rotates alphabetically, the move was criticized in the media and by Canada's foreign minister because of the country's track record on nuclear proliferation.