A Special Session is a mechanism of the United Nations General Assembly as provisioned by Chapter IV, Article 20 of the United Nations Charter: “Special Sessions shall be convoked by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or of a majority of the Members of the United Nations.”

A Special Session is a high-level event which sees the participation of governments and heads of state, and is convened to address specific issues or events of global significance. As such, a session can last from one day to several weeks.

A Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD), therefore, is to advance and discuss disarmament matters. The first SSOD was held in 1978 and the main outcome was the negotiated Final Document, comprising a Declaration, a Programme of Action and recommendations concerning the international disarmament machinery for disarmament negotiations.

SSODs were held in 1978, 1982, and 1988 during the Cold War, but a fourth never occurred. On December 6, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/Res/76/38 “Convening of the Fourth Special Session of the General Assembly Devoted to Disarmament” (SSOD-IV), which encouraged consultations between Member States on SSOD-IV and decided to include the topic in debate in the 77th General Assembly in 2022.

On 27 October 2022, during the First Committee, Brazil called on states to initiate a process of informal consultations on the convening of the Preparatory Committee of the IV Special Session on Disarmament by the 78th Session of the General Assembly, an initiative supported and endorsed by SCRAP Weapons.

To give effect to the clear political will for enhanced debate and progress towards disarmament, an operative paragraph to set a date for SSOD-IV is needed. Based on precedent the following is suggested as an amendment:

“Decides to support a resolution that would initiate by 2025 a Committee to oversee preparations for UNSSOD-IV.”

An effective programme of peace and prevention needs to take into account the complex relationship existing between global development and disarmament, the reduction of investments into the military-industrial complex, the prioritisation of humanitarian needs, and the inclusion of voices of women and girls as well as all marginalised communities. An SSOD-IV would contribute to re-energising the debate around disarmament and place it as a key part of the UN peace and security architecture. The effectiveness of such measures even in the current environment can be highlighted by awareness of the reduction of missiles and other weapons available to Russia for its war in Ukraine, as a result of the INF and OSCE Treaties in eliminating and governing weapons.

SSOD-IV would also be a critical forum to consider reforms of the wider disarmament machinery which has not been upgraded to incorporate contemporary concerns, such as cyber/AI and space, the long-term and immediate effects of nuclear as well as conventional arms, particularly small arms and light weapons, on women and girls and more vulnerable communities, especially those located in the Global South, including indigenous groups. Furthermore, it would provide wider representation from all UN member states, including from the Global South, greater than the Conference on Disarmament, which currently only includes 65 states. 

With global humanitarian crises ranging from a recent pandemic, increasing poverty, and climate change, an equivalent of the COP process must be developed for disarmament, so that financial and human resources can be redirected to peacebuilding efforts and to ensure we live in a safer world. A SSOD-IV would be particularly instrumental in advancing all the six objectives of the New Agenda for Peace as outlined in Our Common Future agenda, in synergy with PK, PKO and Counterterrorism.

Disarmament has been part of the UN’s identity throughout its existence from the Atlantic Charter and UN Declaration of 1942 onwards, and must remain so.

• There will never be a ‘perfect time’. Following recent geo-political developments, the convening of the long-planned UNGA SSOD-IV is now overdue: the threat of global war looms.
• It is unrealistic to believe that the world can spend over USD 2 trillion each year on the military without weapons controls for it to not end catastrophically. One trigger is enough.
• In July 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres included recommendations for a special session on disarmament in the New Agenda for Peace policy brief, as part of the “Our Common Agenda” document. For the first time in 30 years, a renaissance in disarmament looks feasible.
• With global humanitarian crises ranging from a recent pandemic, increasing inequality and poverty, and natural disasters, a special session on disarmament could establish an effective weapons control equivalent to the UN Framework on Climate Change process which addresses climate chaos. This could help redirect financial and human resources towards peacebuilding efforts and to ensure a safer world.