First Committee

Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) on 7 June.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met for a brief organizational meeting today, approving its agenda and work programme for the seventy‑sixth session of the General Assembly.

Sending a total of 72 draft resolutions and decisions to the General Assembly, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its seventy-fifth session today, approving 15 drafts and agreeing on its 2021 programme of work.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved 15 draft resolutions and decisions on a range of disarmament measures, including two following different paths towards keeping cyberspace safe.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today approved 14 drafts, among them several aimed at stemming the spread of illicit weapons on Earth and at preventing a celestial arms race, and also defeated a motion questioning its competence to approve a text on reducing threats in outer space.

Approving five draft resolutions aimed at curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) rejected one that would have had the Security Council consider complaints of incidents involving biological and chemical weapon use, as delegates expressed divergent views on ways to hold perpetrators accountable, with some cautioning against politically driven proposals.

Reflecting a growing divergence on how best to rid the world of atomic arsenals, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) held more than 50 separate recorded votes on multiple provisions of the 22 nuclear‑weapon‑related draft resolutions and decisions Member States approved today.

Highlighting progress made amid COVID‑19 pandemic-related challenges, directors of United Nations regional centres called for increased funding to further advance arms reduction initiatives, while the heads of related entities presented reports on their activities, as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) held the final virtual informal interactive dialogue of its seventy‑fifth session today.

Addressing threats to the global non‑proliferation regime, from halting a mounting wave of cyberattacks worldwide to totally eliminating atomic bombs, requires collective will, briefers told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today during a virtual informal interactive dialogue that highlighted recent cybersecurity developments alongside the Latin America and Caribbean regions’ contributions to a nuclear‑weapon‑free world.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its general debate today amid warnings that transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups are driving illicit arms transfers and weaponizing cyberspace while geopolitical tensions increase the risk of nuclear escalation.