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| Abbreviation | UNODA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1998 |
| Type | Department of theSecretariat |
| Legal status | Active |
Head | High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu[1] |
Parent organization | United Nations Secretariat |
| Subsidiaries | UNLIREC, UNREC, UNRCPD |
| Website | www |
TheUN Office for Disarmament Affairs (abbr.UNODA,French:Bureau des affaires du désarmement) is an Office of theUnited Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as theDepartment for Disarmament Affairs, part ofUnited Nations Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as presented in his report to theGeneral Assembly in July 1997.[2]
Its goal is to promotenuclear disarmament andnon-proliferation and the strengthening of the disarmament regimes in respect to otherweapons of mass destruction,chemical andbiological weapons. It also promotes disarmament efforts in the area ofconventional weapons, especiallylandmines andsmall arms, which are often the weapons of choice in contemporary conflicts.
It is led by an Under-Secretary-General (USG) and High Representative (HR),Izumi Nakamitsu of Japan, who took office on 1 May 2017.
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In its landmark resolution 1653 of 1961, "Declaration on the prohibition of the use of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons", the UN General Assembly stated that the use of nuclear weaponry "would exceed even the scope of war and cause indiscriminate suffering and destruction to mankind and civilization and, as such, is contrary to the rules of international law and to the laws of humanity".[3]
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) had originally been established as a department in 1982 upon the recommendation of the General Assembly's second special session on disarmament (SSOD II).[4] In 1992, it became theCentre for Disarmament Affairs, working under theDepartment of Political Affairs. At the end of 1997, it reverted to being theDepartment for Disarmament Affairs. Then, in 2007, Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon announced the appointment ofSérgio de Queiroz Duarte ofBrazil as the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at the Under-Secretary-General (USG) level and the department became the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Following the retirement of Sérgio Duarte in February 2012,Angela Kane, then USG for Management, was appointed as the new High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. She was the first woman and first non diplomat appointed to this position.
UNODA provides substantive and organizational support for norm-setting in the area of disarmament through the work of the UN General Assembly andits First Committee, theDisarmament Commission, theConference on Disarmament and other bodies. It fosters preventive disarmament measures, such as dialogue, transparency and confidence-building on military matters, and encourages regional disarmament efforts. The latter includes theUN Register of Conventional Arms and regional forums. It also provides information on the United Nations disarmament efforts.
UNODA supports the development and implementation of practical disarmament measures after a conflict, such as disarming anddemobilizing former combatants and helping them to reintegrate incivil society.
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs comprises five branches: Conference on Disarmament Secretariat and Conference Support Branch (Geneva), Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch (WMD), Conventional Arms (including Practical Disarmament) Branch (CAB), the Information and Outreach Branch (IOB) and,Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB). RDB further manages three regional centers.
Branches and centers are organized as follows:
TheConference on Disarmament Secretariat and Conference Support Branch, based in Geneva, provides organizational and substantive servicing to the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.
The WMD Branch provides substantive support in the area of the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological weapons). It supports and participates in multilateral efforts to strengthen the non-proliferation of WMD and in this connection cooperates with the relevant intergovernmental organizations and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, in particular the IAEA, the OPCW and the CTBTO PrepCom.
The CAB focuses its efforts in the conventional field (all weapons not considered WMDs, including small arms and light weapons) of promoting transparency and confidence-building, curbing the flow of small arms in regions of tension, and developing measures of practical disarmament. It is responsible for substantive conference support on the UN Programme of Action on small arms, the Arms Trade Treaty process, and the UN transparency registers. CAB chairs the UN-internal coordination mechanism on small arms, CASA.
The IO Branch organizes a wide variety of special events and programmes in the field of disarmament, producesODA publications such as the Disarmament Yearbook and occasional papers, and maintains the databases for specialized areas such as Register of Conventional Arms, Status of Treaties and Article 7 - Mine-Ban Convention.
TheRegional Disarmament Branch (RDB) provides substantive support, including advisory services, to Member States, regional and subregional organizations on disarmament measures and related security matters.
RDB oversees and coordinates the activities of the three regional centres:
| Former heads of UNODA and UNODA predecessors[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Under-Secretary-General | Country of nationality | Years served | UN Secretary-General |
| Jan Mårtenson |  Sweden | 1982–1987 | Javier Pérez de Cuéllar |
| Yasushi Akashi | Japan | 1987–1991 | |
| Prvoslav Davinić |  Yugoslavia | 1992-1997 | Boutros Boutros-Ghali |
| Jayantha Dhanapala |  Sri Lanka | 1998–2003 | Kofi Annan |
| Nobuyasu Abe | Japan | 2003–2006 | |
| Nobuaki Tanaka | Japan | 2006–2007 | |
| Sérgio de Queiroz Duarte |  Brazil | 2007–2012 | Ban Ki-moon |
| Angela Kane |  Germany | 2012–2015 | |
| Kim Won-soo |  South Korea | 2015–2017 | Ban Ki-moon |
| Izumi Nakamitsu | Japan | 2017–present | António Guterres |
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