Overview

The Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM) was established in 1978 pursuant to paragraph 124 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, and received its current mandate pursuant to General Assembly decision 54/418 of 1 December 1999. The Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters has the following functions:

To advise the Secretary-General on matters within the area of arms limitation and disarmament, including on studies and research under the auspices of the United Nations or institutions within the United Nations system

To serve as the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)

To advise the Secretary-General on the implementation of the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme

UNIDIR

In its role as Board of Trustees of UNIDIR, the Advisory Board reviews reports of the work of the Institute, including completed and ongoing projects, personnel and financial matters, and future plans. For further information about UNIDIR, see its website at http://www.unidir.org.

Sessions

The Advisory Board holds two sessions a year, alternating between New York and Geneva. The Board adopts its agenda based on requests from the Secretary-General for advice on specific disarmament issues and upon its own recommendations of items to be considered. The chairman of the Board rotates by region on a yearly basis and is responsible for the submission of a private report on the session to the Secretary-General. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 38/183 O of 20 December 1983 (A/RES/38/183), the Secretary-General reports annually to the General Assembly on the activities of the Advisory Board.

Background

Membership

The Secretary-General chooses the members of the Board from all regions of the world for their knowledge and experience in the field of disarmament and international security. There are 15 members of the Board (see list below). The Director of UNIDIR is an ex officio member.

Chair

H.E. Ms. Elissa GOLBERG
Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Italy, Ambassador-designate to Albania, San Marino and Malta, and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Agencies based in Rome
(Canada)

Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters members, June 2022


Members

H.E. Ms. Leena AL-HADID
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
(Jordan)

H.E. Ms. Nabeela Abdulla ALMULLA (ret.)
Distinguished lecturer at the American University of Kuwait and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kuwait College of Science and Technology Kuwait City
(Kuwait)

Mr. Lewis DUNN
Former United States Ambassador to the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Virginia
(United States)

H.E. Ms. Elissa GOLBERG
Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Italy, Ambassador-designate to Albania, San Marino and Malta, and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Agencies based in Rome
(Canada)

Mr. Jean-Marie GUÉHENNO
Inaugural Kent visiting professor in conflict resolution at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, New York
(France)

Ms. Mary KALDOR
Director of the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the Department of International Development of the London School of Economics, London
(United Kingdom)

H.E. Ms. Marina KALJURAND
Member of the European Parliament, Brussels
(Estonia)

Mr. Anton KHLOPKOV
Director of the Center for Energy and Security Studies, Moscow
(Russia)

Mr. LI Chijiang
Vice-President and Secretary-General of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, Beijing
(China)

H.E. Ms. Amina MOHAMED
Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage of Kenya, Nairobi
(Kenya)

Mr. Zia MIAN
Senior Research Scholar and Co-Director of the Program in Science and Global Security at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University, Princeton
(Pakistan)

H.E. Mr. Marty NATALEGAWA (ret.)
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Jakarta
(Indonesia)

Mr. Eghosa OSAGHAE
Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos
(Nigeria)

H.E. Ms. Shorna-Kay RICHARDS
Ambassador of Jamaica to Japan, Tokyo
(Jamaica)

H.E. Ms. Margot WALLSTRĂ–M (ret.)
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Stockholm
(Sweden)

Mr. Robin GEISS (ex officio member)
Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Geneva


Secretariat

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Suzanne Oosterwijk
Secretary of the Board
Office for Disarmament Affairs
United Nations Secretariat
New York, NY 10017, USA

unoda-web@un.org

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