First Committee briefing book 2015

Published ahead of the 2015 UN General Assembly First Committee, this briefing book highlights a number of critical disarmament topics and suggests how governments can achieve progress.

The General Assembly's work on disarmament is conducted through its First Committee. Governments often use this forum to articulate decades-old positions and table resolutions that change little in substance or result from year to year. The civil society organisations, coalitions, and campaigns participating most actively at First Committee have argued consistently that we can and must replace watered-down outcomes with alternative results that advance human security and social and economic justice.

This briefing book provides a quick overview of the state of play on some of the most pressing issues that will be addressed at this year’s First Committee. It also outlines recommendations for governments from some of the key civil society groups working on these topics.

Edited by Ray Acheson • Published by Reaching Critical Will, a project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

Full briefing book

• Introduction Reaching Critical Will
• Nuclear weapons International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (www.icanw.org)
• Armed drones PAX (www.paxforpeace.nl)
• Fully autonomous weapons Campaign to Stop Killer Robots (www.stopkillerrobots.org)
• Explosive weapons in populated areas International Network on Explosive Weapons (www.inew.org)
• Landmines International Campaign to Ban Landmines (www.icblcmc.org)
• Cluster munitions Cluster Munitions Coalition (www.icblcmc.org)
• Incendiary weapons Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org)
• Small arms and light weapons International Action Network on Small Arms (www.iansa.org)
• Arms Trade Treaty Control Arms (www.controlarms.org)
• Outer space Reaching Critical Will (www.reachingcriticalwill.org)
• Cyperspace, disarmament, and human security Article 36 (www.article36.org) and Reaching Critical Will (www.reachingcriticalwill.org)
• Gender and disarmament Reaching Critical Will (www.reachingcriticalwill.org)
• Conflict and the environment Toxic Remnants of War Network (www.toxicremnantsofwar.info)

We are delighted to offer the online version for free, but please consider making a donation to Reaching Critical Will to help us cover the costs of producing this book and the other materials and information services that Reaching Critical Will provides.