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Although we have tried to use plain English content on the site, you may come across specialist terms and acronyms. Find out what they mean in our glossary of terms.
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The Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC) was established by the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act 1987 [external link] to:
The Act provides for the Committee to consist of nine members, one of whom should be the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control as chair. The other eight are appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for a term not exceeding three years. Members may from time to time be reappointed for a further term.
The Committee meets in Wellington three times a year for up to a day. The International Security and Disarmament Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade acts as its secretariat.
Current members of PACDAC are:
PACDAC receives written and oral briefings on current disarmament and arms control issues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and PACDAC focus groups are responsible for developing policy advice on various areas of interest to the committee.
PACDAC is responsible for making recommendations on the allocation of grants from the Peace and Disarmament Education Trust (PADET) set up in 1988, and makes grants from the Disarmament Education United Nations Implementation Fund (DEUNIF) set up in 2004. The Secretary of Internal Affairs is trustee for PADET and the Department of Internal Affairs' Trusts and Appointments Unit acts as PADET and DEUNIF secretariat and assists PACDAC in ints consideration of applications. In order to avoid conflict of interest, PACDAC expects members to declare any interest in specific applications for funds and to stand aside from consideration of such applications.
The objective of the Peace and Disarmament Education Trust [external link] is to "advance education and thereby promote international peace, arms control and disarmament". The trust makes one-off grants, and provides scholarships for postgraduate research.
The Disarmament Education United Nations Implementation Fund is intended to implement the recommendations of the 2002 United Nations Study on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education [external link PDF 176KB]. Activities funded include ongoing core funding for NGOs, and should implement at least one of the recommendations in the UN study.
