The United Nations Disarmament Machinery

The second World War not only left countries devastated, but also broke the international taboo — arduously elaborated by the League of Nations – around the use of what would be later called weapons of mass destruction; with poisonous gasses returned to be largely used, and nuclear weapons employed for the first time on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Against this backdrop, resuming efforts towards disarmament and arms limitation felt like an inevitable and owed step.

In 1945, representatives from 51 states established the United Nations and included arms regulation as one of the key missions of the organization.

Specific references to disarmament and arms control were made both in the United Nations Charter and in the very first resolution adopted by the General Assembly in 1946.

As a key proponent of disarmament since its creation, the UN has over the years heavily and naturally contributed to the definition of the disarmament architecture, pursuing two main goals: First, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. And second, the regulation of conventional arms, particularly the illicit traffic of small arms and light weapons.

To achieve these goals, the UN has set up what it is referred to as the UN Disarmament Machinery: a set of multilateral processes, procedures, practices and international bodies whose purpose is to address disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control issues.

In 1978, the UN has cemented its determination to work for general and complete disarmament by dedicating the UNGA’s tenth special session to the topic of disarmament. The 10th special session of the General Assembly will pass into history as the First Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament, or simply the SSOD, and will constitute the UN’s “mission statement” on disarmament.

In the next videos, we will explore in details what composes the United Nations Disarmament Machinery: its architecture, its achievements as well as potential areas for improvement.

The term “Machinery” was coined during the First Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD) convened by the United Nations General Assembly in 1978. The term initially referred to a basic architecture composed by three institutions: The United Nations General Assembly First Committee, The United Nations Disarmament Commission, and the Conference on Disarmament.

Each institution continues to be part of the machinery today and, like then, has a specific function: the First Committee of the General Assembly debates, drafts and adopts disarmament-related resolutions; the UN Disarmament Commission deliberates on basic disarmament concepts and principles and makes recommendations; the Conference on Disarmament negotiates and adopts multilateral treaties.

Let’s now have a closer look to each institution.

Let’s start with the First Committee.

The First Committee is one of the six main committees of the General Assembly established by the Preparatory Commission of the UN in 1945. The Committee deals specifically with disarmament and international security, seeking solutions to challenges to international peace and security – such as WMD proliferation and the illicit traffic of small arms and light weapons.

The First Committee meets every year, from October to early November in New York City and is attended by all member states of the UN.

The work of the Committee addresses seven thematic clusters:

• nuclear weapons
• other weapons of mass destruction
• disarmament aspects of Outer Space
• conventional weapons
• regional disarmament and security
• other disarmament measures and international security
• disarmament machinery

The work of the First Committee is divided in three distinctive phases:

The first phase, which lasts approximately one week, is where the general debate happens and where agenda items are agreed upon.

During the second phase, the thematic discussions phase, high-level officials deliver their statements and panel discussions are organized.

The last phase, referred to as “action on drafts”, is where the Committee votes on any recommendations, resolutions or decisions to be adopted by the General Assembly.

On average, the UNGA-FC annually discusses the adoption of over 50 resolutions on disarmament issues, making it an important player in developing disarmament multilateral norms.

During the annual meetings, the first committee can also decide to create groups of governmental experts and open-ended working groups to address specific issues. It can also convene conferences for the negotiation and adoption of multilateral treaties.

Let’s now look at the two remaining bodies that compose the basic architecture of the UN Disarmament Machinery: the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) and the Conference on Disarmament.

The UN Disarmament Commission was first established by the GA in 1952, with the mandate of proposing treaties regulating and limiting armed forces and all armaments, and eliminating all weapons of mass destruction.

Initially designed to be under the UN Security Council, the Commission was re-established in 1978 as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.

Today, the UNDC deliberates on basic disarmament principles and concepts and makes nonbinding recommendations, often in the form of guidelines for collective action.

To facilitate its work, in 1998 the GA decided to limit the UNDC’s agenda to only two substantive items per year, including one on nuclear disarmament.

The UNDC is attended by all member states of the UN and this - at times – has contributed in slowing down its work. From 1999 to 2017, in fact, the UNDC was unable to produce any substantial outcome due to the inability of its parties to reach consensus.

In 2017, however, its members succeeded in adopting the “Practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional weapons”.

And finally, the Conference on Disarmament, or CD.

What we know today as the CD is an evolution of previous committees on the matter.

In 1959, the Big Four (namely the UK, the US, France, and the Soviet Union) resumed previously halted disarmament talks and set the basis for the creation of the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament in 1960. Composed of 5 states from NATO and 5 from the Warsaw Pact, two years later, the Committee became the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, adding 8 neutral non-aligned States. In 1969, it was further enlarged, becoming “the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament”, with 31 members in 1975. In 1978, the UNGA First Special Session on Disarmament officially recognized the CD, known at the time as the “Committee on Disarmament”, as the sole disarmament negotiating body.

Today, the CD is still considered the single multilateral arms control and disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. It is composed by 65 official members, while other UN Member States can participate as observers.

The CD meets three times per year in Geneva, and adopts its own rules of procedure and agenda, taking into consideration, however, the recommendations of the GA and its Members.

The Conference has a permanent agenda of 10 items, established in 1979 and known as the Decalogue, from which the agenda items and programme of work for the year are established.

All decisions of the CD are taken by consensus.

While not officially a body of the United Nations, the CD has a special relation with the UN. It in fact reports annually to the GA and its budget is included in that of the UN.

Over the years, the CD and its predecessors have negotiated pillar multilateral arms limitation and disarmament agreements, such as the BTWC, the NPT and the CWC.

Since its establishment, the work of the Disarmament Machinery has been supported by the United Nations Secretary General as well as the United Nations Security Council.

As recognized in the 1978 First Special Session on Disarmament, the Secretary General of the United Nations in fact plays a special role in the promotion of arms control and disarmament, and over the years all Secretary Generals have contributed significantly to the definition of the Disarmament Regime through statements and reports.

In 2018, the UNSG António Guterres has announced a new vision, publishing the Agenda for Disarmament: a set of practical measures to achieve disarmament by generating fresh perspectives and exploring areas where serious dialogue is required.

The Agenda focuses on three main priorities: weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and future weapon technologies. It is also based on 4 pillars: Disarmament to Save Humanity, Disarmament that Saves Lives, Disarmament for Future Generations and Strengthening Partnerships for Disarmament.

The UN Security Council has also been crucial in the development of the arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament agenda.

In 2004, the UNSC adopted Resolution 1540: one of the most far-reaching international instruments to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems – recognized as a serious threat to international peace and security.

The binding character of the resolution required all members of the UN to adopt and enforce domestic regulation to counter the spread of WMDs to non-state actors.

The resolution was adopted in response to growing concern that non-state actors could succeed in acquiring WMDs, and following the unveiling, in January 2004, of a clandestine nuclear weapons technology proliferation network – also known as the A. Q. Khan network.

In 2009, the UNSC convened an historic summit-level meeting chaired by United States President Barack Obama and unanimously adopted Resolution 1887, calling on all countries to sign and ratify the NPT and the CTBT and to refrain from conducting nuclear tests.

The summit was only the fifth in the Council’s history to be held at the level of heads of states and governments.

Besides the broad scope of Resolutions 1540 and 1887, the Council has also focused on specific regional cases over the years. Some examples are the resolutions adopted on Iraq’s WMD programme, on India and Pakistan’s nuclear tests, on Syria’s chemical weapons or on the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programmes, just to name a few.

To summarize, the support of the United Nations Secretary General, and of the United Nations Security Council, have been paramount to strengthen the work of the United Nations Disarmament Machinery and to advance the global Disarmament Agenda.