DYB2011-Part-II-web

Foreword
To first-time readers of the United Nations Disarmament Yearbook:
welcome to this authoritative annual chronicle of multilateral events relating
to disarmament and the regulation of armaments. The Yearbooks offer a
descriptive account rather than an analysis of relevant events. Yet readers
have found them useful both in analysing developments and in promoting new
efforts to advance disarmament goals.
To our past readers: welcome back. As before, this Yearbook focuses
largely on the United Nations disarmament machinery—including its
deliberative institutions (the General Assembly’s First Committee and the
Disarmament Commission) and the forum to negotiate multilateral treaties
(the Conference on Disarmament)—all assisted by the Secretariat.
The Yearbook also covers developments relating to key multilateral
treaties and norms:
• The entry into force of the New START (Treaty between the Russian
Federation and the United States of America on Measures for Further
Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms).
• Initiatives to implement commitments made at the 2010 Review
Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
• Consultations for convening a conference in 2012 on the establishment
of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of
mass destruction.
• Initiatives to promote entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-
Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and to commence negotiations on a fissile
material treaty.
• Progress in implementing the protocols to treaties establishing regional
nuclear-weapon-free zones.
• Improvements in nuclear safety and security after the accident at
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was the focus of a
high-level meeting at the United Nations.
• Preparations for final negotiations in 2012 on an arms trade treaty, and
the launching of the web platform of the United Nations Office for
Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) on the “Global Reported Arms Trade”.
• Significant progress with the Convention on Cluster Munitions, as States
parties adopted an implementation architecture for the treaty.
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