The opening words of the the UN Charter express the determination "to save suceeding generations from the scourge of war". Since its establishement the UN has been an ongoing forum for disarmament negotiations and studies and the very first resolution of the General Assembly at its first meeting in 1946 ,1(I) addresses the concerns of nuclear danger and disarmament.

Both the General Assembly and the Security Council consider disarmament topics, in accordance with articles 11, 26 and 47 of the UN Charter.

They have also created subsidiary bodies that focus on disarmament matters.

General Assembly and disarmament

The General Assembly considers all questions on international security and disarmament. The First Committee, one of the six Main Committees of the General Assembly, is allocated agenda items related to disarmament and international security. In recent years more than 60 resolutions on disarmament are passed annually. In addition, the General Assembly has held three special sessions on disarmament:

1. 10th session (1978)
2. 12th session (1982)
3. 15th session (1988)

UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC)

The UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC), under the General Assembly, is composed of all UN members and meets annually to consider and make recommendations on various on problems in the field of disarmament and to make recommmendations to the General Assembly.

Conference on Disarmament (CD)

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, is the single international forum for negotiations of multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. It has 66 members representing all areas of the world, including the five major nuclear-weapon states. It reports its activities to the General Assembly annually. It has successfully negotiated many important conventions on disarmament. The Conference's annual session is divided into three parts starting in January.

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) serves as an advisory body to the Secretary-General. It promotes disarmament efforts and preventive measures, supports the implementation of disarmament conventions and practical measures after conflict and provides information on United Nations disarmament efforts.

Regional disarmament

Through its Regional Disarmament Branch UNODA oversees and coordinates three regional disarmament centres in

• Africa (UNREC)
• Asia (UNRCPD)
• Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC)

More on UN and disarmament

Documents and reports

• UNODA, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Disarmament issues with references to reports and documents.
• Conventions with signatures and ratifications are posted at:
  • UNODA Disarmament Treaties Database
  • United Nations Treaty Collection
• Disarmament resolution and decisions. Major disarmament resolutions and decisions from 1997 onwards with voting information.
• Special Sessions of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament (SSOD). Documentationen from the General Assembly Special Sessions on Disarmament (SSOD) is included in the series Supplements to the Official Records of the General Assembly:
  • 10th Special session 1978, GAOR 10th spec. sess. Supplement no. 4
  • 12th Special session 1982, GAOR 12th spec. sess. Supplement no. 6
  • 15th Special session 1988, GAOR 14th spec. sess. Supplement no. 6
• United Nations Disarmament Commission submits an annual report to the General Assembly. The report is published as no. 42 in the documentary series Supplements to the Official Records of the Economic and Social Council.
• United Nations Disarmament Yearbook provides an extensive overview of UN disarmament activities. The documents from the Conference on Disamament carry the symbol CD/.
• Conference on Disarmament. An annual report is submitted to the General Assembly. Meeting records from the Conference on Disarmament carry the symbol CD/PV.meeting no.
• UNIDIR offers information and publications.
• To enhance the level of transparency in arms transfers the General Assembly passed a resolution in 1991 which requested the Secretary-General to maintain a register where governments provide information on a voluntary basis on their transfers to other states of major weapons systems, military holdings, procurement through national production and relevant policies. The Member States report to the register. The data are compiled and published in:
  • UNROCA. Transparency in the global reported arms trade

Websites and research guides

• Websites on disamament issues that offer background information, documents and links to further reading:
  • Gender and Disarmament
  • Small Arms and Light Weapons
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction
  • Landmines
  • United Nations Counter-Terrorism-Strategy. The role of the Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA)
  • Disarmament Field Activities
• E-Mine. UN Mine Action Gateway provides recources on UN mine action.
• Fred, säkerhet och nedrustning. The website of UNA Sweden with information on Peace, Security and Disarmament, and the responsibility to protect (R2P) (In Swedish).
• UN Documentation : Disarmament. A research guide by Dag Hammarskjöld library, New York.
• UNRIC Library Backgrounder: Disarmament with relevant URLs within the UN system, such as UN documents, treaties, declarations, Secretary-General reports, a selection of speeches and statements by UN officials, articles in UN journals, etc.