Disarmament and arms control

Geneva occupies a key position as a centre of security political activities, remembered for many meetings and achievements of historic significance. The city has been the venue for several negotiations leading to the conclusion of conventions that are important from the point of view of international security policy, such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The city has also hosted many bilateral and multilateral peace conferences and arms control talks between the great powers. As part of the formulation of international humanitarian law, the rules of warfare have been negotiated in Geneva.

The disarmament section of the Permanent Mission is responsible for Finland's representation in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (CD(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)), which convenes annually for three separate sessions. The sector is also, in cooperation with the Finnish delegations, in charge of arrangements related to other arms control meetings in Geneva:

Furthermore, the disarmament sector takes part in the meetings of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, which is responsible for disarmament and security, the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)) and the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)), convening in New York, and in disarmament negotiations and projects concerning small arms and light weapons.

The CD sector takes care of contacts and dialogue with the intergovernmental disarmament organisations, NGOs and security political research institutes that are based in Geneva, the most important of which are the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and three centres set up by Switzerland: