Bird silhouettes on a glass door at the Palais des Nations home of the United Nations in Geneva. It was originally built for the League of Nations and is the second largest UN site after New York. It provides the setting for the Conference on Disarmament and access to the whole site is strictly limited.

The Conference on Disarmament, established in 1979, is the only forum for nations to discuss multilateral arms control and disarmament issues. It has a primary focus nuclear weapons control and disarmament. 65 countries, and 38 observer nations, convene annually at the United Nations' Palais des Nations building for three sessions of talks totalling 24 weeks.