The Committee

Introduction to the Disarmament and International Security Committee.

The United Nations (UN) Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) was created as the first of the Main Committees in the General Assembly when the charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945.

The First Committee of the United Nations deals with disarmament, global challenges, and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime. It considers all disarmament and international security matters within the scope of the Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any other organ of the United Nations; the general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments; promotion of cooperative arrangements and measures aimed at strengthening stability through lower levels of armaments.

The Committee works in close cooperation with the United Nations Disarmament Commission and the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament. It is the only Main Committee of the General Assembly entitled to verbatim records coverage.

The First Committee sessions are structured into three distinctive stages:

• General debate

• Thematic discussions

• Action on drafts

The work of the committee falls under seven thematic clusters:

• Nuclear weapons

• Other weapons of mass destruction

• Outer space (disarmament aspects)

• Conventional weapons

• Regional disarmament and security

• Other disarmament measures and international security

• Disarmament machinery