Disarmament

The Conference on Disarmament, the principal United Nations negotiating forum on the issue, in 2009 overcame years of deadlock and agreed on an agenda jump-starting its work, as the Russian Federation and the United States, the two largest nuclearweapon powers, committed themselves to disarmament in accordance with their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (npt). However, as the year progressed, the Conference was unable to implement its agenda, revealing rifts among Member States on nuclear issues. The Disarmament Commission, which started a fresh three-year cycle, also agreed on a work programme aimed at achieving consensus on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, declaring a fourth disarmament decade and developing confidence-building measures in conventional weapons. However, progress was small, as seen also in a related postponement by the General Assembly of a decision to convene a fourth special session on disarmament.

Related Subject(s): United Nations