OSCE, UN work together to stop proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

The OSCE Secretariat and the United Nations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the joint implementation of projects to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The MoU, which entered into force in October 2011, will increase technical co-operation in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which calls for comprehensive measures to prevent proliferation by non-State actors of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery. The OSCE Secretariat’s Conflict Prevention Centre will work closely with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to carry out the terms of the MoU.

They will facilitate capacity building and assistance as well as regional and country-specific events in response to OSCE participating States’ requests. UNODA and OSCE recently held the first joint regional workshop for Central Asian States on the implementation of Resolution 1540 in Astana in September.

The MoU follows the Meeting of International, Regional and Sub-regional Organizations on Cooperation in Promoting the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which was hosted by the Government of Austria and organized in co-operation with UNODA in Vienna last December. It is the first agreement between the Secretariats of organizations which participated in this meeting. It is also a further practical step within the framework for co-operation and co-ordination between the UN Secretariat and the OSCE on activities of common interest established in 1993.

In Resolution 1977 adopted on 20 April 2011, the UN Security Council stressed the need to enhance collaboration between the 1540 Committee and relevant international, regional and subregional organizations in assisting States to implement resolution 1540.