United Nations Disarmament Commission

CONTACT DETAILS

United Nations Headquarters
\New York, NY 10017
United States of America
Telephone : +1 (212) 963-1234
Facsimile : +1 (212) 963-4879
Internet : www.un.org

HISTORY AND PRESENT STATUS

The United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) was originally established in 1952, and later re-established and strengthened in 1978. In the Final Document of its tenth Special Session in 1978, GA resolution S-10/2 par. 118, the General Assembly decided to establish, as successor to the Commission originally established in 1952, a Disarmament Commission composed of all UN members.

The UNDC is a specialised deliberative body mandated to consider and submit concrete recommendations on specific disarmament issues and to follow up the relevant decisions and recommendations of the tenth Special Session.

GA res. 37/78H (1982) requested the Commission to direct its attention at each substantive session to specific subjects from among those which have been and will be under its consideration, taking into account the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and to make concrete recommendations on such subjects to the subsequent session of the General Assembly.

The Commission held its 22nd substantive session in New York from 26 June to 7 July 2000. The Disarmament Commission adopted by consensus a draft report as well as the draft reports of its two working groups on nuclear disarmament and on practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional arms.

OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND COOPERATING ORGANISATIONS

Defence
Trade and Industry
Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

RELEVANT TREATIES AND PROTOCOLS

All relevant non-proliferation and disarmament treaties.

MEMBER STATES

All United Nations Member States and Permanent Observers; specialised international organisations and non-governmental organisations participate in the activities of the UNDC.

GENERAL COMMENTS

South Africa as a member state of the United Nations participates in the activities of the UN Disarmament Commission.

The South African Government has since its inauguration in 1994 committed itself to a policy of non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control which covers all weapons of mass destruction and extends to its concerns relating to the proliferation of conventional weapons. This policy forms an integral part of its commitment to democracy, human rights, sustainable development, social justice and environmental protection.

A primary goal of South Africa's policy is to reinforce and promote South Africa as a responsible producer, possessor and trader of defence-related products and advanced technologies in the nuclear, biological, chemical and missile fields. South Africa, in so doing, promotes the benefits which non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control hold for international peace and security, particularly to countries in Africa and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).