UKDis Geneva is the core element of ten virtual teams working across the British Government on multilateral arms control and disarmament.  We represent the UK at international meetings on a wide range of issues ranging from cluster munitions to nuclear disarmament and biological weapons to landmines.   UKDis Geneva is also the United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the Conference on Disarmament (CD), where most of the International Treaties on arms control and disarmament were originally negotiated.

The Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty (NPT) is the cornerstone of the international disarmament architecture.  At the NPT Review Conference and its preparatory meetings, UKDis leads the team responsible for negotiating the implementation of the NPT ‘grand bargain’, under which states give up the development of nuclear weapons in return for access for civilian nuclear technology and the five nuclear weapons states are committed to total disarmament.

Our work also covers conventional weapons such as cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines.  Through negotiations in Geneva and elsewhere, we are at the forefront of efforts to deal with the serious effects of cluster munitions on civilians.  On landmines, our main activities relate to the UK’s obligations under the treaty to provide humanitarian assistance to those areas affected by landmines and to clear landmines from all UK territories.  With other states we are also working towards negotiations on a new Arms Trade Treaty, to ensure that the trade in conventional weapons is carried out responsibly throughout the world.

UKDis leads for the UK at the UN General Assembly First Committee and UN Disarmament Commission (both in New York), and at meetings under the Small Arms and Light Weapons convention.  We are also working to strengthen the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (in Geneva), which is now increasingly concerned with life sciences – ensuring that the research on the vaccines of tomorrow is not misused to produce new weapons.