General and Complete Disarmament Resolutions

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 70 General and complete disarmament, published in 1996.

What else is in this group?

239 documents · 1960–2002

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2002).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2002	A/RES/56/24	General and complete disarmament resolutions	14,237	–
2001	A/RES/55/33	General and complete disarmament resolutions	16,682	–
2000	A/RES/54/54	General and complete disarmament resolutions	15,691	–
1999	A/RES/53/77	General and complete disarmament resolutions	17,006	–
1998	A/RES/52/38	General and complete disarmament	11,793	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What’s in this document?

117 operative paragraphs

A

Commends those nuclear-weapon States observing nuclear testing moratoria, and urges them to continue those moratoria pending the entry into force of a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty;

Strongly deplores all current nuclear testing;

Strongly urges the immediate cessation of all nuclear testing.

B

Requests the Secretary-General, within the existing resources, to prepare a report, with the assistance of a panel group of qualified governmental experts to be nominated by him on the basis of equitable geographical representation, on:

The types of small arms and light weapons actually being used in conflicts being dealt with by the United Nations;

The nature and causes of the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms and light weapons, including their illicit production and trade;

The ways and means to prevent and reduce the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms and light weapons, in particular as they cause or exacerbate conflict;

with particular attention to the role of the United Nations in this field and to the complementary role of regional organizations, and taking into account views and proposals of Member States and all other relevant information, for submission to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to seek the views and proposals of Member States on the matters mentioned in paragraph 1 above, to collect all other relevant information and to make them available for consideration by the panel of governmental experts referred to in paragraph 1 above;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second session an item entitled "Small arms".

C

Urges States not parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 9/ to accede to it at the earliest possible date, recognizing the importance of universal adherence to the Treaty;

Calls for the determined pursuit by the nuclear-weapon States of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons, and by all States of general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, and invites them to keep States Members of the United Nations duly informed of the progress and efforts made;

Calls upon all States to implement fully their commitments in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

D

Reaffirms its determination to ensure the effective operation of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms 10/ as provided for in paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 of resolution 46/36 L;

Calls upon Member States to provide the requested data and information for the Register, on the basis of resolutions 46/36 L and 47/52 L and the annex and appendices to the report of the Secretary-General on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development,¹³ to the Secretary-General by 30 April annually;

¹³A/49/316.

Reaffirms its decision, with a view to further development of the Register, to keep the scope of and participation in the Register under review, and, to that end:

Recalls its request to Member States to provide the Secretary-General with their views on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development and on transparency measures related to weapons of mass destruction;

Recalls its request to the Secretary-General, with the assistance of a group of governmental experts to be convened in 1997, on the basis of equitable geographical representation, to prepare a report on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development, taking into account the work of the Conference on Disarmament, the views expressed by Member States and the report of the Secretary-General on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development, 12/ with a view to a decision at its fifty-second session;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that sufficient resources are made available for the Secretariat to operate and maintain the Register;

Invites the Conference on Disarmament to consider continuing its work undertaken in the field of transparency in armaments;

Reiterates its call upon all Member States to cooperate at the regional and subregional levels, taking fully into account the specific conditions prevailing in the region or subregion, with a view to enhancing and coordinating international efforts aimed at increased openness and transparency in armaments;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session on the progress made in implementing the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Transparency in armaments".

E

Takes note of the part of the report of the Conference on Disarmament relating to a future convention on the prohibition of radiological weapons;²¹

²¹See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fiftieth Session, Supplement No. 27 (A/50/27), sect. III.F.

Expresses grave concern regarding any use of nuclear wastes that would constitute radiological warfare and have grave implications for the national security of all States;

Calls upon all States to take appropriate measures with a view to preventing any dumping of nuclear or radioactive wastes that would infringe upon the sovereignty of States;

Requests the Conference on Disarmament to take into account, in the negotiations for a convention on the prohibition of radiological weapons, radioactive wastes as part of the scope of such a convention;

Also requests the Conference on Disarmament to intensify efforts towards an early conclusion of such a convention and to include in its report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session the progress recorded in the negotiations on this subject;

Takes note of resolution CM/Res.1356 (LIV) of 1991, adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, on the Bamako Convention on the Ban on the Import of Hazardous Wastes into Africa and on the Control of Their Transboundary Movements within Africa;

Expresses the hope that the effective implementation of the International Atomic Energy Agency Code of Practice on the International Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Waste will enhance the protection of all States from the dumping of radioactive wastes on their territories;

Welcomes current efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the preparation of a draft convention on the safe management of radioactive waste;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Prohibition of the dumping of radioactive wastes".

F

Decides to convene its fourth special session on disarmament in 1997, if possible, the exact date and agenda to be decided upon before the end of the current session of the General Assembly through consultations;

Also decides to establish a Preparatory Committee to prepare a draft agenda for the special session, to examine all relevant questions relating to that session and to submit its recommendations thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session;

Invites all Member States to communicate to the Secretary-General, no later than 1 April 1996, their views on the draft agenda and other relevant questions relating to the fourth special session on disarmament;

Requests the Preparatory Committee to meet for a short organizational session before the end of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly in order, inter alia, to set the date for its substantive session;

Also requests the Preparatory Committee to submit its progress report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session an item entitled "Convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament: report of the Preparatory Committee for the Fourth Special Session of the General Assembly Devoted to Disarmament".

G

Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General²³ and of actions taken in accordance with the Final Document of the International Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development;

²³A/50/388.

Urges the international community to devote part of the resources made available by the implementation of disarmament and arms limitation agreements to economic and social development, with a view to reducing the ever-widening gap between developed and developing countries;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take action, through appropriate organs and within available resources, for the implementation of the action programme adopted at the International Conference;²⁴

²⁴United Nations publication, Sales No. E.87.IX.8, para. 35.

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Relationship between disarmament and development".

H

Welcomes the initiative taken by Mali concerning the question of the illicit circulation of small arms and their collection in the affected States of the Saharo-Sahelian subregion;

Also welcomes the action taken by the Secretary-General in implementation of this initiative in the context of General Assembly resolution 40/151 H of 16 December 1985;

Thanks the Governments concerned in the subregion for the substantial support that they have given to the United Nations advisory missions and welcomes the declared readiness of other States to receive the United Nations Advisory Mission;

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in the context of the implementation of resolution 49/75 G and of the recommendations of the United Nations advisory missions,²⁵ to curb the illicit circulation of small arms and to collect such arms in the affected States that so request, with the support of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa and in close cooperation with the Organization of African Unity;

²⁵See A/50/405.

Invites Member States to implement national control measures in order to check the illicit circulation of small arms, in particular by curbing the illegal export of such arms;

Invites the international community to give appropriate support to the efforts made by the affected countries to suppress the illicit circulation of small arms, which is likely to hamper their development;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to examine the issue and to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session.

I

Welcomes the entry into force of the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, 4/ signed in Moscow on 31 July 1991 by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America, including the Protocol to that Treaty signed at Lisbon on 23 May 1992 by the parties thereto, and the exchange of documents of ratification between the United States of America, Belarus, Kazakstan, the Russian Federation and Ukraine on 5 December 1994 at Budapest;

Also welcomes the signing of the Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms in Moscow on 3 January 1993, 5/ and urges the parties to take the steps necessary to bring that Treaty into force at the earliest possible date;

Expresses its satisfaction at the fact that the entry into force of the 1991 Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms clears the way for prompt ratification by the Russian Federation and the United States of America of the 1993 Treaty;

Also expresses its satisfaction at the continuing implementation of the Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, 25/ in particular at the completion by the parties of the destruction of all their declared missiles subject to elimination under the Treaty;

Encourages the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakstan, and Ukraine to continue their cooperative efforts aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons and strategic offensive arms on the basis of existing agreements, and welcomes the contributions that other States are making to such cooperation as well;

Welcomes the accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 9/ of Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine as non-nuclear-weapon States, which thereby provided a notable enhancement to the non-proliferation regime;

Encourages and supports the Russian Federation and the United States of America in their efforts to reduce their nuclear weapons and to continue to give those efforts the highest priority in order to contribute to the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons;

Invites the Russian Federation and the United States of America to keep other States Members of the United Nations duly informed of progress in their discussions and in the implementation of their strategic offensive arms agreements and unilateral decisions.

J

Invites Member States:

To take appropriate and effective enforcement measures to seek to ensure that illicit transfers of arms are immediately discontinued;

To provide the Secretary-General promptly with relevant information on national control measures on arms transfers with a view to preventing illicit arms transfers;

Requests the Disarmament Commission:

To expedite its consideration of the agenda item on international arms transfers, with special emphasis on the adverse consequences of the illicit transfer of arms and ammunition;

To study and report on measures to curb the illicit transfer and use of conventional arms, bearing in mind concrete problems in various regions of the world;

Requests the Secretary-General:

To seek the views of Member States on effective ways and means of collecting weapons transferred illicitly, in particular in the light of experience gained by the United Nations;

To seek the views of Member States on concrete proposals concerning measures at the national, regional and international levels to curb the illicit transfer and use of conventional arms;

To submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session a report containing the views expressed by Member States;

Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session on the effective implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Measures to curb the illicit transfer and use of conventional arms".

K

Stresses that sustained efforts are needed, within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament and under the umbrella of the United Nations, to make progress on the entire range of disarmament issues;

Affirms that global and regional approaches to disarmament complement each other and should therefore be pursued simultaneously to promote regional and international peace and security;

Calls upon States to conclude agreements, wherever possible, for nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and confidence-building measures at the regional and subregional levels;

Welcomes the initiatives towards disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and security undertaken by some countries at the regional and subregional levels;

Supports and encourages efforts aimed at promoting confidence-building measures at the regional and subregional levels in order to ease regional tensions and to further disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation measures at the regional and subregional levels;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Regional disarmament".

L

Decides to give urgent consideration to the issues involved in conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels;

Requests the Conference on Disarmament, as a first step, to consider the formulation of principles that can serve as a framework for regional agreements on conventional arms control, and looks forward to a report of the Conference on this subject;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels".

M

Invites the Conference on Disarmament to take every necessary measure to include in negotiating treaties and agreements on disarmament and arms limitation the corresponding environmental norms, with a view to ensuring that the process of implementation of such treaties and agreements is environmentally sound, in particular the destruction of weapons covered by them;

Emphasizes the importance of the compliance of all States parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, and calls upon them to cooperate and ensure that the process of implementation of the Convention in all relevant aspects is environmentally sound;

Urges all States parties to consider all relevant norms related to the protection of the environment in implementing the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction;

Calls upon the Conference on Disarmament to conclude, as a task of the highest priority, a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty as soon as possible in 1996;

Urges the States that are not yet party to the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques³⁰ to consider adhering to it as soon as possible, in order to assure the universality of the Convention.

³⁰Resolution 31/72, annex.

N

Expresses its satisfaction at the fact that the entry into force of the 1991 Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms clears the way to prompt ratification by the Russian Federation and the United States of America of the 1993 Treaty;

Encourages the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine to continue their cooperative efforts aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons and strategic offensive arms on the basis of existing agreements, and welcomes the contributions that other States are making to such cooperation as well;

Encourages and supports the Russian Federation and the United States of America in their efforts to reduce their nuclear armaments and to continue to give those efforts the highest priority in order to contribute to the objective of the elimination of nuclear weapons within a time-bound framework;

Invites the Russian Federation and the United States of America to keep other States Members of the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament duly informed of progress in their discussions and in the implementation of their strategic offensive arms agreements and unilateral decisions;

Calls on the Conference on Disarmament to take this information into account in the negotiations to be held on nuclear disarmament and for the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons within a time-bound framework.

O

Welcomes the moratoria already declared by certain States on the export of anti-personnel land-mines;

Urges States that have not yet done so to declare such moratoria at the earliest possible date;

Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report on steps taken by Member States to implement such moratoria, and to submit it to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session under the item entitled "General and complete disarmament";

Emphasizes the importance of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects and Protocol II thereto as the authoritative international instrument governing the responsible use of anti-personnel land-mines and related devices, and urges parties to build consensus towards an agreement when the Review Conference reconvenes;

Encourages the widest possible accession to the Convention and to Protocol II thereto, and further urges all States to comply immediately and fully with the applicable rules of Protocol II;

Also encourages further immediate international efforts to seek solutions to the problems caused by anti-personnel land-mines, with a view to the eventual elimination of anti-personnel land-mines.

P

Recognizes that, in view of the end of the cold war and recent political developments, the time is now opportune for all nuclear-weapon States to undertake effective nuclear disarmament measures with a view to the total elimination of these weapons within a time-bound framework;

Also recognizes that there is a genuine need to de-emphasize the role of nuclear weapons, and to review and revise nuclear doctrines accordingly;

Urges the nuclear-weapon States to stop immediately the qualitative improvement, development, stockpiling and production of nuclear warheads and their delivery systems;

Calls upon the nuclear-weapon States to undertake step-by-step reduction of the nuclear threat and a phased programme of progressive and balanced deep reductions of nuclear weapons, and to carry out effective nuclear disarmament measures with a view to the total elimination of these weapons within a time-bound framework;

Calls upon the Conference on Disarmament to establish, on a priority basis, an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament to commence negotiations early in 1996 on a phased programme of nuclear disarmament and for the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons within a time-bound framework;

Expresses its support for the efforts of the Member States of the Conference on Disarmament to this end;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session a report on the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Nuclear disarmament".

Q

Notes that on 11 May 1995 the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons adopted three decisions on strengthening the review process for the Treaty, principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;³⁵

³⁵See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, Part I (NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I)), para. 30.

Takes note of the resolution on the Middle East adopted on 11 May 1995 by the parties to the Treaty;³⁶

³⁶Ibid., para. 33.

Notes that the States parties to the Treaty participating in the Review Conference:

Agreed to strengthen the review process for the operation of the Treaty with a view to assuring that the purposes of the preamble and the provisions of the Treaty were being realized, and decided that, in accordance with article VIII, paragraph 3, the Review Conferences should continue to be held every five years, and that, accordingly, the next Review Conference should be held in the year 2000, and that the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee should be held in 1997;

Affirmed the need to continue to move with determination towards the full realization and effective implementation of the provisions of the Treaty, and accordingly adopted a set of principles and objectives;

Decided that, as a majority existed among States parties to the Treaty for its indefinite extension, in accordance with its article X, paragraph 2, the Treaty should continue in force indefinitely;

Notes that the three decisions and the resolution were adopted without a vote.

R

Welcomes the accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of the following States: Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Comoros, Eritrea, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Palau, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu;

Also welcomes the accession on 5 December 1994 to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of Ukraine as a non-nuclear-weapon State, and in this regard acknowledges that this decision, as well as relevant decisions previously taken by Belarus and Kazakstan, contributed to the entry into force of the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, 4/ which is a major landmark in the process of nuclear disarmament;

Acknowledges the progress in the process of implementation of the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms to date by the parties to the Treaty;

Welcomes the signing of the Treaty on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms 5/ by the Russian Federation and the United States of America, and urges the parties to take the steps necessary to bring that Treaty into force at the earliest possible date;

Also welcomes the fact that South Africa has voluntarily given up its nuclear weapon programme as well as the voluntary renunciation of nuclear weapons by Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine, and recognizes the significant contribution of those States to nuclear disarmament and the strengthening of regional and global security.

General and Complete Disarmament Resolutions

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What else is in this group?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

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