Conference on Disarmament

Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. Established in 1979, 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 (1969-78). The CD is a forum established by the international community for the negotiation of multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. While the conference is not formally a United Nations (UN) organization, it is linked to the UN through a personal representative of the United Nations Secretary-General; 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.

Membership

It has 65 members representing all areas of the world, including all known nuclear-weapon states. ^[1]

Discussions

The CD operates by consensus and has successfully negotiated the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Currently under discussion are a fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT), a prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS), nuclear disarmament, and negative security assurances (NSA).

References

External links

• United Nations' page of Conference on Disarmament
• Press releases of Conference on Disarmament
• Disarmament insight website