United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs

The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) (French: Le Bureau des affaires du désarmement) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as presented in his report to the General Assembly in July 1997.

Its goal is to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the strengthening of the disarmament regimes in respect to other weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons. It also promotes disarmament efforts in the area of conventional weapons, especially landmines and small arms, which are often the weapons of choice in contemporary conflicts.

Following the retirement of Sergio Duarte in February 2012, Angela Kane of Germany was appointed as the new High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. She was replaced by Kim Won-soo in June 2015.

History

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”.