Editing Conference on Disarmament (section)

==Work of the Conference==
Initially, the Conference and its predecessors were successful in meeting their mandate. They were instrumental in drafting numerous arms control agreements: most importantly, the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]] (1968), the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] (1972), the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] (1993) and the [[Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty]] (1996).<ref name="Goldblat">{{cite journal |last1= Goldblat |first1= Jozef |title= The Conference on Disarmament at the Crossroads: To Revitalize or Dissolve? |url= https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/72gold.pdf|journal= The Nonproliferation Review |issue= Summer 2000|pages= 104–107|access-date= May 27, 2018}}</ref>

However, the work of the body was stalled for over a decade, as members were unable to agree on a work program after the passage of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Difficulties included strained relations between key players, disagreement among members on the prioritization of issues, and attempts of some countries to link progress in one area to parallel progress in other areas.<ref name="NTI" /><ref name="Goldblat" /><ref name="Australia">{{cite report |date= September 2009|title= Report 106: Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament|url= https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=jsct/nuclearnon_proliferation/report.htm|publisher= The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia|pages=163–6|access-date= May 27, 2018 }}</ref>

Then, in 2009 a breakthrough was made by the body when it established several working groups to tackle various topics under the Conference's authority. These group focused on: negotiating a treaty banning the production of [[Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty|fissile material for nuclear weapons (FMCT)]], creating practical steps to reduce nuclear weapons, [[Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space]] (PAROS) and addressing negative security assurances.<ref name="NTI" /><ref name="Australia" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/proposed-fissile-material-cut-off-treaty/ |title=Proposed Fissile Material (Cut-off) Treaty (FMCT) |date=May 31, 2017 |website=Nuclear Threat Initiative |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/proposed-prevention-arms-race-space-paros-treaty/ |title=Proposed Prevention of an Arms Race in Space (PAROS) Treaty |date=May 31, 2017 |website=Nuclear Threat Initiative |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>

Due to the general dysfunction of the Conference and its limited membership, negotiations for the 2017 [[Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons]] took place at the United Nations, and not at the Conference.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/ |title=Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons|publisher=United Nations |website=United Nations Office at Geneva |access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>