Welcome

Building Peace and Security Partnerships

The Geneva Forum is a joint initiative of the Quaker United Nations Office, Geneva (QUNO), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

Our overarching objective is to contribute to international peace and security by building partnerships among and between governments, international organisations and NGOs on disarmament and arms control issues of common concern. The work of the Geneva Forum comprises three main tracks:

1. Building agendas around new and emerging issues in arms control and disarmament.
2. Supporting ongoing arms control and disarmament negotiations.
3. Promoting the implementation of arms control and disarmament agreements.

In carrying out this work, the Geneva Forum interacts closely with government missions to the United Nations, international organisations, NGOs and the media, and actively engages Geneva's important, humanitarian, development and human rights communities in its disarmament work.

Upcoming Event:

Working on Disarmament and Arms Control in Geneva: an orientation for diplomats - 26-27 January 2012, Palais des Nations

Every year the Geneva Forum hosts an orientation on "Working on Disarmament and Arms Control in Geneva." These seminars are specifically designed to brief newly arrived diplomats, as well as those who may recently have taken over responsibility for disarmament and arms control issues, on the genesis, development, current status and future challenges facing multilateral action in several areas.

The next such seminar will be held over two mornings on the 26th and 27th of January, 2012. The first will cover the Conference on Disarmament, nuclear and biological arms control, and outer space. The second morning will be dedicated to conventional arms control and disarmament, covering the arms trade treaty, small arms and light weapons, landmines, cluster munitions, and the CCW.

For further information, or if you are a newly arrived diplomat due to work on disarmament and are interested in registering as a participant, please contact Paul Musiol (paul.musiol@graduateinstitute.ch).

Latest event:

Towards the 7th Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention - 17 November 2011, 09:00-13:15, Domaine de Penthes

Involving a small group of government, civil society and international organization repressentatives, this informal consultation offered the opportunity to discuss two issues thought to be likely to feature prominently during the December 2011 Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention: international cooperation and assistance, and the intersessional process. Both sessions each consisted of two main componemts: a) an assessment of current practices and processes in these areas of BWC implementation, and b) an outline of alternative possible models, also based on examples drawn from other regimes of international arms control. In each session, detailed and stimulating discussions followed the presentations. The entire consultation was held under the Chatham House Rule.