Disarmament in Review
25 April 2012 — Over 20 international, regional and sub-regional industry associations participated in the first Industry Conference on UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), which was held from 23 to 25 April 2012 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Hosted by the Government of Germany, the event was organized by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), with financial support from the Governments of Norway, the United States and the European Union.
UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) aims at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery to non-State actors, in particular for terrorist purposes. The Security Council encourages the Committee established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) to draw on relevant expertise from civil society and the private sector in support of its implementation.
The industry associations which participated in the Wiesbaden Conference represented various sectors of nuclear, biological, chemical, transport, financing as well as aerospace industries. These associations have an active global membership in more than 100 UN Member States and represent several thousand companies and entities. Participants also included representatives of the 1540 Committee, several international and regional organizations, civil society and academia. Globally operating companies such as DHL, EADS and Oerlikon spoke on the experiences of industry in the area of non-proliferation underlining the social responsibility of the private sector in this regard.
The Conference was a successful first step in the process of engaging industry as a partner in international efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery to non-State actors. The Conference aimed to facilitate information and experience sharing of effective practices in support of the implementation of Resolution 1540 (2004), as well as to create channels of communication within various industry associations as well as with the 1540 Committee and international organizations.
Germany, as host of the Conference, announced its readiness to actively contribute to a substantial follow-up process to the Wiesbaden Industry Conference.
