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COVID-19: Up-to-date list of postponed or cancelled disarmament and arms control meetings

Due to public health concerns, an increasing number of arms control and disarmament meetings are being cancelled or postponed until further notice. This list is regularly updated as information becomes available.

Last updated: 1 February 2021

Postponed indefinitely:

The 14th Conference of the High Contracting Parties to CCW Protocol V was scheduled to meet on 9 November 2020 but is postponed until further notice.

The second meeting of the 2020 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapon systems was scheduled to meet in Geneva from 2-6 November 2020 but is now postponed until further notice.

The 22nd Annual Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) was scheduled to be held on 10 November and is now postponed until further notice.

The 2020 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) was scheduled to be held from 11-13 November 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is postponed until further notice.

The first round of ATT CSP7 preparatory meeting and working group meetings scheduled for 16-19 February 2021 will not take place on these dates. Details about new dates and meeting formats, including potentially in relation to the second round of meetings scheduled for May 2021, is forthcoming.

The second session of the Conference on a WMD-free zone in the Middle East, planned to be held in New York in November 2020, was postponed.

Upcoming:

 

The third substantive session of the UN Open-ended working group on developments in the field of information and communications technologies in the context of international security, originally scheduled for 6-10 July in New York, is rescheduled for 8-12 March 2021. Format is to be determined. 

The Meeting of Experts of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was scheduled to take place from 1–10 December 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland. It is postponed due to a date not earlier than April 2021. 

The Third round of consultations on a political declaration on explosive weapons (EWIPA), originally scheduled from 23-24 and 26-27 March in Geneva, may have informal consultations in March 2021.

The 2020 NPT Review Conference, originally scheduled from 27 April-22 May 2020 in New York, is postponed until such time as conditions permit, but not later than August 2021.

The Seventh Biennial Meeting of States of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, originally scheduled from 15-19 June in New York, has been rescheduled for 26-30 July 2021.

The Fourth Conference of Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zones and Mongolia, originally scheduled to take place on 24 April in New York, has been postponed "to a period in 2021".

Cancelled:

An Intersessional informal exchange of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs, originally scheduled from 30-31 March in New York, was cancelled.

Arms Trade Treaty Working Group meetings and second CSP6 informal preparatory meeting, originally scheduled from 14-17 April in Geneva, is cancelled. 

The 2020 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapon systems meeting that was scheduled for 22-26 June in Geneva, did not take place. It was re-scheduled to take place from 10-14 August 2020 in Geneva which was cancelled too. 

The Second intercessional informal exchange of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs, originally scheduled from 28-29 May in New York, is cancelled. 

Not cancelled:

The Sixth Conference of States Parties (CSP6) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) took place in written format from 17 July–17 August. 

The first session of the 2020 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapon systems took place in hybrid format from 21-25 September 2020. 

The 2020 session of the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security took place from 5 October—5 November in New York. The schedule was revised to allow for a reduced number of in-person meetings. All meetings were webcast. 

The eighteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty took place in hybrid format from 16-20 November in Geneva.