Supporting the United Nations Disarmament Machinery

While the first Special Session on Disarmament held by the UNGA in 1978 originally identified the First Committee, the UNDC and the CD as the only components of the ‘Disarmament Machinery,’ over the years other institutions have been created and have contributed to the machinery’s work, actively participating in the strengthening of the disarmament agenda.

Some by providing support through research, others by organizing experts’ meetings and events, and others, by implementing major non-proliferation and disarmament treaties.

Let’s now have a closer look to each of these institutions, and let’s start with UNIDIR.

The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, also known as UNIDIR, was established in 1980 by the UNGA as an autonomous research institute – to conduct independent and impartial research and to facilitate multilateral dialogue on disarmament and arms control.

By organizing experts’ meetings, conducting and publishing research projects, and working with governmental and non-governmental organisations, civil society and the private sector, UNIDIR acts as a bridge-builder between UN Member States and the research community.

With over 30 experts, researchers and fellows, UNIDIR’s programme of work currently focuses on 5 thematic areas:

• WMD and Other Strategic Weapons
• Conventional Arms
• Security and Technology
• Gender and Disarmament
• Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone

The work of UNIDIR is reviewed by a Board of Trustees, officially known as the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.

The board is nominated by the Secretary General, who chooses its components among experts in the field of disarmament and international security from all regions of the world.

The board has 15 members and UNIDIR’s Director is an ex officio member.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs – usually known by its acronym UNODA − was originally established in 1982 upon the recommendation of the UNGA’s Second Special Session on Disarmament. Previously under the names of Centre for Disarmament Affairs and Department for Disarmament Affairs, the Institution officially became the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs in 2007.

UNODA’s main purpose is to provide substantive and organizational support to the Disarmament Machinery and to UN Member States and to contribute to the achievement of the ultimate goal of general and complete disarmament.

The UNODA achieves this purpose through, among other things: multilateral dialogue, transparency and confidence-building measures and through objective, impartial and up-todate information on arms control and disarmament issues.

The Office also supports the development and implementation of practical disarmament measures after a conflict, such as disarming and demobilizing former combatants and helping them to reintegrate in civil society.

UNODA’s work is organized in five main branches:

• the CD Secretariat and Conference Support Branch (Geneva), which provides assistance to the CD
• the Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch (WMD), which contributes to strengthen the non-proliferation regime
• the Conventional Arms Branch (CAB), which focuses on all weapons not considered WMD and their illicit trafficking
• the Information and Outreach Branch (IOB), which organizes events, produces UNODA’s publications and maintains and updates content for the UNODA’s website and its databases
• the Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB), through which the UNODA oversees and coordinates the activities of the regional centres for peace and disarmament in Lima, Lomé, and Kathmandu

You will learn more about these institutions and the regional centres of the UNODA in the next section.

Hi! I’m Angela Kane and I am the former High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and Under Secretary-General from 2012–2015, capping a long career in the United Nations.

I had worked in disarmament in the mid to late eighties and it was a difficult time at the time, simply because it was very hard relations between the United States and the then Soviet Union. When I came back to the department at the beginning of 2012, I was really surprised that not much had changed in terms of the structures. The structures were still the same! The same commissions, the same matter of organising …

By that time in 2012, the optimism of the breakup of the fall of the wall in the late eighties / early nineties of the Soviet Union, and also the energy that was created by president Obama who had advocated reducing the numbers but particularly also the role of nuclear weapons in the US international security had already dissipated.

What was a highlight of the time that I spent as High Representative was clearly the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty. That was a project that was twenty years in the making. It came to conclusion in 2013 and the treaty entered relative quickly into force already in December 2014. It was definitely a highlight and it now has 110 states parties with another 30 who are waiting to ratify the treaty – so that is definitely a success story of that time. Before the ATT, there was really no global set of rules which governed the trade in conventional weapons and there was a lot of diversion, particularly also to non-state actors, which was very dangerous. Now also at the time we had established a trust fund to assist states in their reporting for the ATT and which also funded NGOs to educate about the Arms Trade Treaty. This continues until today and in fact is extremely successful, witnessed by the fact that its member states continue to fund it.

An absolute highlight of my tenure was really the investigation of the chemical weapons attack in Syria in 2013. That was the first time that a chemical weapons investigation was carried out within days of its occurrence and which proved without a doubt that Sarin was used. No one has ever questioned the results of that investigation as it happened on the ground and with a chain of custody of samples that has remained until now unprecedented. It was incredibly stressful but I am very proud that we were able to move the goal post and that resulted in Syria joining the Chemical Weapons Convention. While the issue is still under monthly consideration by the Security Council, the impact continues to be there with more scrutiny and more investigations that followed. That was definitely a highlight during my tenure as High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

Among the institutions that support the work of the UN Disarmament Machinery we find those that are essential in implementing major non-proliferation and disarmament treaties. Among these, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, the CTBTO, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the OPCW, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA.

The CTBTO, officially the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization is the interim implementing body of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty – the treaty that prohibits any kind of nuclear weapons testing: on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground.

Since the Treaty is not yet in force, the organization is called the Preparatory Commission. Despite this, it has been very active and has established a remarkable, unique and comprehensive verification regime to ensure that no nuclear explosion goes undetected. Founded in 1996, and based in Vienna, the CTBTO has its own membership and budget, but it has a Relationship Agreement with the UN since the year 2000. Today, it has over 180 member states and will become fully operational when the Treaty will enter into force: that is, when all the 44 countries holder of nuclear technologies will sign and ratify the Treaty. As of January 2021, only eight countries are still missing: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States. Of these, India, North Korea and Pakistan have also yet to sign the CTBT.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or the OPCW, is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Established in 1997, the organisation oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. The OPCW signed a Relationship Agreement with the UN in 2001. Today, the organisation has 193 member states and is responsible for the destruction of over 97% of all declared chemical weapons stockpiles worldwide.

In recognition of its extensive efforts and commitments, in 2013 the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

And finally, the IAEA.

While strictly not a disarmament organization, The International Atomic Energy Agency, also known as the IAEA, plays a fundamental role in countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Agency, in fact, is responsible for the international safeguards system: a set of technical measures through which the IAEA verifies that states are not diverting their nuclear materials and technologies into nuclear weapons programmes, using them only for peaceful purposes – honoring their international legal obligations.

Among other functions, the IAEA also encourages the development of peaceful applications of nuclear energy, science and technology and promotes the implementation of nuclear safety and nuclear security standards.

Established in 1957, the IAEA is an autonomous international organisation within the UN system. The IAEA Director General is a member of the UN Chief Executive Board and regularly participates in the meetings chaired by the SG of the UN.

The Agency is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field and its work is reported periodically to the UNGA and UNSC. It has over 170 member states and like the OPCW, in 2005 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

To learn more about the Chemical Weapons regime and the CWC please refer to learning unit 02.

To learn about the CTBTO, have a look at chapters 4 and 5 of learning unit 04.

Finally, you can learn about the work of the IAEA in learning unit 13.