Disarmament in Review
27 – 28 June 2013 — The International Arab Banking Summit, which was held in Vienna, devoted a special session to issues on UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004); a key international instrument in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to non-State actors.
Video message to the Summit from Ms. Angela Kane, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
The Summit provided the unique opportunity in bringing together the United Nations and the financial sector from the Middle East and Northern Africa, in order to discuss the positive contributions of the banking system to the international efforts to implement resolution 1540 (2004).
In addressing the Summit, Ms. Angela Kane, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, conveyed a message from the UN Secretary-General to the Summit’s participants. The Secretary-General welcomed the Summit’s focus on weapons of mass destruction, one of the gravest security challenges facing the international community. He stressed that international cooperation in upholding the provisions of resolution 1540 is essential and that the United Nations was mobilizing all stakeholders to join efforts aimed at preventing WMD proliferation and terrorism and would continue to reach out to financial institutions and companies as indispensable partners.
The Summit’s session on resolution 1540 (2004) was convened by the Union of the Arab Banks (UAB), in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and involved the participation of the broad membership of the UAB which includes over 370 banks and financial institutions from the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Background
Unanimously adopted by the Security Council on 28 April 2004, resolution 1540 (2004) obliges all States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery. All States are to adopt appropriate effective legislation and establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of WMDs to non-State actors.
The Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) is a subsidiary body of the Security Council with a mandate to report to the Council on the implementation of the resolution.
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