Disarmament

Kuwait deposited on 3 July its instrument of accession to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), and to the following Protocols of that treaty: Protocol I on non-detectable fragments; Amended Protocol II on the use of mines, booby-traps and other devices; Protocol III on the use of incendiary weapons; Protocol IV on blinding laser weapons; and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), jointly inaugurated the Caribbean Regional Armoury Management Training Centre in Port-of-Spain on 28 June.

In this week, which saw the opening for signature of the Arms Trade Treaty, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs launched the multi-donor United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR). The Facility will work closely with complementary international assistance initiatives to ensure better coordination, coherence and information sharing.

HAMBURG/GENEVA/ NEW YORK, 6 June — The World Future Council has announced today the nominations of the Future Policy Award 2013. In partnership with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, this year’s Award seeks to highlight disarmament policies that contribute to peace, sustainable development and human security.

The first ever international treaty to regulate the trade of conventional weapons “opened a door of hope” to millions of people living in deprivation and fear because of the poorly controlled trade and the proliferation of those deadly weapons, the United Nations top official said today as the instrument opened for signature, with more than 60 delegates lining up to pen their names.

NEW YORK, 19 April (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The Government of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, invited the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) and its Group of Experts to undertake a visit to the country from 17 to 19 April.

A frank and open exchange of views during the Disarmament Commission’s three-week session had helped to rebuild trust between delegations and set the stage to bridge longstanding differences of position and bring much-needed legitimacy to the United Nations disarmament machinery, speakers said today, as the body’s 2013 session drew to a close.

NEW YORK, 8 April (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The 2013 Group of Governmental Experts on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, established by the Secretary-General under General Assembly resolution 66/39, commenced its work in Geneva on Monday, 8 April, to review the Register’s continuing operation and further development.

The Disarmament Commission was a unique forum where delegates could “think and debate” and — after years of stalemate — there was now a need to build on positive momentum and find convergence on critical issues, speakers said today as they wrapped up the general debate of their substantive session and moved into focused working groups to tackle the most pressing items on their agenda.

In a “very complex” security environment — marked by diplomatic divisions between national and international interests, slow progress on nuclear disarmament, and the “relentless” expansion of military budgets — the Disarmament Commission’s record would be judged less by the volume of its words than the quality of its outcomes, said Angela Kane, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, as she opened the deliberative body’s 2013 substantive session.