First Committee deals with all disarmament and security matters that affect the international community. It provides space for member states to exchange their views on disarmament-related considerations and allow for collaboration in order to seek out common agreements to the challenges posed by weapons – from conventional weapons to weapons of mass destruction.
The Chair of the First Committee at its seventy-eighth session is His Excellency Rytis Paulauskas, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations.
Reaching Critical Will (RCW), WILPF’s disarmament programme, has published the First Committee 2023 Briefing Book and Monitor, available here. Subscribe to RCW’s First Committee Monitor here.
Armed drones (joint) [Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Dr. Iain Overton (Mr.) - Executive Director, Action on Armed Violence]
Incendiary weapons (joint) [Human Rights Watch, Yi Dan Duan (Ms.), Legal Intern, Human Rights Watch]
Explosive weapons in populated areas (coalition) [International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW), Katherine Young (Ms.), Research and Monitoring Coordinator, Explosive Weapons Monitor]
Cluster munitions (coalition) [Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), Ayman Sorour (Mr.), Member of the Governance Board, International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC)]
International arms trade (coalition) [Control Arms, Maria Pia Devoto (Ms.), Director, Asociación para Políticas Públicas (APP)]
Protection of the environment in armed conflict (joint) [PAX, Brittany Roser (Ms.), UN Advisor, PAX]
Outer space (joint) [Project Ploughshares, Dr. Jessica West (Ms.), Senior Researcher, Project Ploughshares]
Landmines (coalition) [International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), Yeshua Moser Puangsuwan (Mr.), Senior Expert and Campaigner, ICBL-CMC]
Autonomous weapons (coalition) [Stop Killer Robots, Isabelle Jones (Ms.), Campaign Outreach Manager]
Youth and disarmament education (joint) [International Disarmament Institute at Pace University, Ellis Clay (Mr.), Student]
Gender and diversity (joint) [Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Antje Hipkins (Ms.), Fellow]
Cyber peace and security (joint) [ICT4Peace Foundation, Jasmine Cintron Soto (Ms.), Student, Pace University Peace and Justice Studies]
Biological weapons [King's College London, Ray Acheson (Mx.), Director, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom]
Small Arms and Light Weapons (coalition) [International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), Mays Smithwick (Mx.), Representative, IANSA]
Humanitarian disarmament (joint) [Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic, Dr. Matthew Bolton (Mr.), Director, Pace University's International Disarmament Institute and Professor of Political Science]
Nuclear weapons (coalition) [International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Tuva Krogh Widskjold (Ms.), Coordinator, ICAN Norway]
