Overview
Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 79/54, the preparatory meeting of States on the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management will be held from 23 to 27 June 2025 at the United Nations Headquarter, New York, to explore possible options for the development of the process and modalities for the effective implementation of the Global Framework and to prepare for the meeting of States in 2027, with the participation, as observers, of relevant international and regional organizations and other relevant stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations and civil society, academia, research institutions and industry.
The Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management is available here (A/78/111, annex).
Officers
The Chair-designate of the 2025 Preparatory Meeting of States and the 2027 Meeting of States on the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management is Marthinus van Schalkwyk. Marthinus van Schalkwyk is a dedicated diplomat with over three decades of experience in international relations. He is currently serving as the Deputy Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations in New York, USA.
Before being appointed to this position he served as the Director Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in Pretoria from 2021 to 2023. In this capacity he was responsible for Disarmament and Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Conventional Weapons as well as Arms Control. He was further the Political Coordinator during South Africa’s non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in 2019 and 2020.
Marthinus served as the Director Social Development in DIRCO from 2011 to 2018 with particular focus on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS and the UN Functional Commissions responsible for Social Development and Population and Development, as well as related Funds and Programmes.
Before this he served as Counsellor at the South African Embassy to the Netherlands and the Permanent Representation to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), 1st Secretary at the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the United Nations (New York, USA) and as 3rd/2nd Secretary at the South African Mission to the European Union (Brussels, Belgium).
Information for Participants
Sponsorship Programme
To ensure inclusive and broad participation of States in the Preparatory Meeting of States, especially those most affected by inadequate management of conventional ammunition, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, with financial support from Germany, is launching a sponsorship programme to facilitate the participation of up to twelve representatives from eligible Member States in the one-week meeting.
The sponsorship programme is open to countries classified among Least Developed Countries by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD or/and severely affected by risks associated with ineffective through-life conventional ammunition management. Interested eligible Member States are invited to apply for sponsorship by sending an official letter or note verbale to the Office for Disarmament Affairs (conventionalarms-unoda@un.org copying musomboc@un.org) no later than 21 March 2025, providing the full name, official title, affiliation and curriculum vitae of the nominated participant. Additional criteria for the selection of sponsored participants are regional representation and gender equity. Interested Member States may nominate up to two candidates, ensuring at least one female candidate. Sponsorship will be provided to maximum one person per country. Nominated candidates should possess relevant technical expertise or be directly involved in conventional ammunition management, or in the implementation of the Global Framework at the national level.
