View source for Conference on Disarmament

{{Redirects|Disarmament Conference|the 1931 film|Disarmament Conference (film)}}
{{Other uses|Conference on disarmament (disambiguation)}}
{{short description|Multilateral disarmament forum}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                = Conference on Disarmament
| image               = 
| image_size          = 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| logo                = Emblem of the United Nations.svg
| logo_size           = 
| logo_alt            = 
| logo_caption        = 
| abbreviation        = CD
| predecessor         = Committee on Disarmament (1979–1984)
| formation           = {{start date and age|1984}}
| type                = International
| status              = Active
| purpose             = Discussing and debating [[disarmament]] issues, and making recommendations
| headquarters        = [[Palais des Nations]]
| location            = 
| fields              = 
| membership          = 65 Countries
| leader_title        = Secretary-General <br>({{small|''[[ex officio]]''}})
| leader_name         = [[Tatiana Valovaya]]  
| budget              = 
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| endowment           = 
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| website             = [https://www.un.org/disarmament/conference-on-disarmament/ Official Website]
| remarks             = 
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| footnotes           = 
}}

[[File:Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations, Palais des Nations in Geneva (3).jpg|thumb|A meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in the Council Chamber of the [[Palace of Nations, Geneva|Palace of Nations]]]]

The '''Conference on Disarmament''' ('''CD''') is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the [[international community]] to negotiate [[arms control]] and [[disarmament]] 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.<ref name="Intro" /> It was renamed the '''Conference on Disarmament''' in 1984.

The Conference succeeded three other disarmament-related bodies: the [[Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament]] (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:<ref name="NTI" />
* [[Nuclear weapons]] in all aspects
* Other [[weapons of mass destruction]]
* Conventional weapons
* Reduction of [[military budget]]s
* Reduction of armed forces
* Disarmament and development
* Disarmament and [[international security]]
* 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/cd/RulesofProcedure.pdf |title=Rules of Procedure of the Conference on Disarmament|publisher=Women's International League for Peace and Freedom |website=Reaching Critical Will |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>

==Relationship to the United Nations==
The Conference is formally independent from the United Nations.<ref name="Critical Will">{{cite web |url=http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/others/cd|title=Conference on Disarmament|publisher= Women's International League for Peace and Freedom|website= Reaching Critical Will|access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref> 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]] serves as the Secretary-General of the Conference.<ref name="Intro">{{cite web |url=https://www.unog.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/BF18ABFEFE5D344DC1256F3100311CE9?OpenDocument|title=An Introduction to the Conference |website=United Nations Office at Geneva |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref> Furthermore, while the Conference adopts its own rules of procedure and agenda, the [[UN General Assembly|United Nations General Assembly]] 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.<ref name="NTI">{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/conference-on-disarmament/|title=Conference on Disarmament (CD) |date=January 10, 2018 |website=Nuclear Threat Initiative|access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>

The Conference on Disarmament Secretariat and Conference Support Branch of the [[United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs]], 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]] (1968), the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] (1972), the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] (1993) and the [[Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty]] (1996).<ref name="Goldblat">{{cite journal |last1= Goldblat |first1= Jozef |title= The Conference on Disarmament at the Crossroads: To Revitalize or Dissolve? |url= https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/72gold.pdf|journal= The Nonproliferation Review |issue= Summer 2000|pages= 104–107|access-date= May 27, 2018}}</ref>

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.<ref name="NTI" /><ref name="Goldblat" /><ref name="Australia">{{cite report |date= September 2009|title= Report 106: Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament|url= https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=jsct/nuclearnon_proliferation/report.htm|publisher= The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia|pages=163–6|access-date= May 27, 2018 }}</ref>

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 Cut-off Treaty|fissile material for nuclear weapons (FMCT)]], creating practical steps to reduce nuclear weapons, [[Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space]] (PAROS) and addressing negative security assurances.<ref name="NTI" /><ref name="Australia" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/proposed-fissile-material-cut-off-treaty/ |title=Proposed Fissile Material (Cut-off) Treaty (FMCT) |date=May 31, 2017 |website=Nuclear Threat Initiative |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/proposed-prevention-arms-race-space-paros-treaty/ |title=Proposed Prevention of an Arms Race in Space (PAROS) Treaty |date=May 31, 2017 |website=Nuclear Threat Initiative |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>

Due to the general dysfunction of the Conference and its limited membership, negotiations for the 2017 [[Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons]] took place at the United Nations, and not at the Conference.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/ |title=Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons|publisher=United Nations |website=United Nations Office at Geneva |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>

== Membership ==
[[Image:CDMembers.png|thumb|300px|Members countries of the Conference on Disarmament]]

The conference is currently composed of 65 formal members, representing all areas of the world, as well as all known [[List of countries with nuclear weapons|nuclear-weapon states]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unog.ch/__80256ee600585943.nsf/(httpPages)/2a1de6b24c2b4aa1c1257fc400455542?|title=Regional Groups |website=United Nations Office at Geneva|access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://disarmament.unoda.org/conference-on-disarmament/member-states/ | title=Member States and non-member States – UNODA }}</ref>

=== Western European and Others Group (WEOG)  ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| {{flag| Argentina}} || {{flag| Australia}} || {{flag| Austria}} || {{flag| Belgium}} || {{flag| Canada}}
|-
| {{flag| Finland}} || {{flag| France}} || {{flag| Germany}} || {{flag| Hungary}} || {{flag| Ireland}}
|-
| {{flag| Israel}} || {{flag| Italy}} || {{flag| Japan}} || {{flag| Netherlands}} || {{flag| New Zealand}} 
|-
| {{flag| Norway}} || {{flag| Poland}} || {{flagdeco | Republic of Korea}} [[Republic of Korea]]|| {{flag| Slovakia}} || {{flag| Spain}}
|-
| {{flag| Sweden}} || {{flag| Switzerland}} || {{flag| Turkey}} || {{flag| United Kingdom}} || {{flag| United States}}
|-
|}

=== Group of 21 (G-21) ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| {{flag| Algeria}} || {{flag| Bangladesh}} || {{flag| Brazil}} || {{flag| Cameroon}} || {{flag| Chile}}
|-
| {{flag| Colombia}} || {{flag| Cuba}} || {{flagdeco | PRK}} [[Democratic People’s Republic of Korea|DPRK]]|| {{flagdeco | COD}} [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DRC]]|| {{flag| Ecuador}}
|-
| {{flag| Egypt}} || {{flag| Ethiopia}} || {{flag|India }} || {{flag|Indonesia }} || {{flag | Islamic Republic of Iran}} 
|-
| {{flag| Iraq}} || {{flag| Kenya}} || {{flag| Malaysia}} || {{flag| Mexico}} || {{flag| Mongolia}}
|-
| {{flag| Morocco}} || {{flag| Myanmar}} || {{flag| Nigeria}} || {{flag| Pakistan}} || {{flag| Peru}}
|-
| {{flag| Senegal}} || {{flag| South Africa}} || {{flag| Sri Lanka}} || {{flag| Syrian Arab Republic}} || {{flag| Tunisia}}
|-
| {{flag| Venezuela}} || {{flag| Vietnam}} || {{flag| Zimbabwe}} 
|}
=== Eastern European Group (EEG) ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| {{flag| Belarus}} || {{flag| Bulgaria}} || {{flag| Kazakhstan}}
|-
| {{flag| Romania}} || {{flag| Russian Federation}} || {{flag| Ukraine}} 
|}

=== Group of One ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| {{flag| China}}
|-
|}

=== Non-member States ===
Additionally, a number of states participate in meetings of the Conference as Non-member States:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B8954/(httpAssets)/6A3633D41A25D77BC12580B30051A4DE/$file/List+of+non-member+states.pdf |title=Non-member States participating in the work of the Conference on Disarmament|publisher=Conference on Disarmament|date=June 20, 2017 |website=United Nations Office at Geneve |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| {{flag| Albania}} || {{flag| Angola}} || {{flag| Armenia}} || {{flag| Azerbaijan}} 
|-
| {{flag| Bosnia and Herzegovina}} || {{flag| Costa Rica}} || {{flag| Cyprus}} || {{flag| Czech Republic}} 
|-
| {{flag| Dominican Republic}} || {{flag| Estonia}} || {{flag| Georgia (country)|name=Georgia}} || {{flag| Greece}}
|-
| {{flag| Guatemala}} || {{flag| Holy See}} || {{flag| Kuwait}} || {{flag| Kyrgyzstan}}
|-
| {{flagdeco | LAO}} [[Laos|Lao PDR]]|| {{flag| Latvia}} || {{flag| Lithuania}} || {{flag| Luxembourg}}
|-
| {{flag| Malta}} || {{flag| Montenegro}} || {{flag| Nicaragua}} || {{flag| North Macedonia}}
|-
| {{flag| Oman}} || {{flag| Panama}} || {{flag| Philippines}} || {{flag| Portugal}}
|-
| {{flag| Qatar}} || {{flag| Moldova}} || {{flag| Serbia}} || {{flag| Singapore}}
|-
| {{flag| Slovenia}} || {{flag| Tajikistan}} || {{flag| Thailand}} || {{flag| Togo}} 
|-
| {{flagdeco | ARE}} [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]]
|}

== See also ==
* [[United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs]]
* [[Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [https://www.un.org/disarmament/conference-on-disarmament/ United Nations' page of Conference on Disarmament]
* [https://www.un.org/disarmament/news/cod_2011/ Press releases of Conference on Disarmament]
* [http://www.disarmamentinsight.blogspot.com Disarmament insight] website

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[[Category:Arms control]]
[[Category:International military conferences]]
[[Category:United Nations organizations based in Geneva]]