Event Date: December 4, 2013 - 9:00 am
Location: FSS4004, 120 Université Privé , Ottawa

Presented by CIPS and Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (CNWC).
Free. In English and in French. Registration is not required. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.

A review of the current status of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) disarmament and conventional arms regulation, followed by comments on emerging opportunities and challenges facing the international community in this field, including Syrian chemical weapons, a Middle East WMD-free zone, the Arms Trade Treaty, and nuclear disarmament.

Keynote address: ANGELA KANE, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

Commentators: PETER JONES, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, and PEGGY MASON, Senior Fellow, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, and former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament.

Chair: ROBERT FOWLER, Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, and former Foreign Policy Advisor to three prime ministers.

Angela Kane assumed the position of UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs in March 2012. She provides the Secretary-General with advice and support on all arms control, non-proliferation and related security affairs matters and is responsible for the activities of the Office for Disarmament Affairs. Ms. Kane has had a long and distinguished career in the UN. In addition to substantive assignments in political, peacekeeping and disarmament, she has held various managerial functions, including with financial and policy-setting responsibility. She served as Under-Secretary-General for Management from 2008-2012, overseeing human resources, financial management, procurement and support services and the renovation of the United Nations New York Headquarters campus. From 2005 to 2008, she was Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, a core function related to the prevention and resolution of conflicts. Her geographic responsibilities included all regions except Africa. Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management.