Counter Proliferation programme

Countering weapons proliferation is a strand of work at the heart of the Government’s efforts to safeguard Britain’s national security and to support stability around the world.  

The FCO plays an important role in the UK’s work to stop the spread of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons.  When acquired by States, these can threaten global stability and undermine international institutions.  In the hands of terrorists, they could pose a grave and direct threat to civilians.  We also support international efforts to tackle the illicit trade in conventional weapons, which contributes to regional conflict and instability, with severe humanitarian consequences.

One of the FCO’s tools to combat these threats is our Counter-Proliferation Programme. In financial year 2012-13, the value of the Programme is £3 million.  This funding is used to support projects around the world which strengthen political will or technical capacity to tackle the threat of weapons proliferation.

Programme objectives

All projects funded by the Programme contribute to achieving one or more of the Programme’s overarching objectives.  These are:

• Objective 1: Countries strengthen their capacity to secure CBRN materials and expertise from acquisition by non-state actors
• Objective 2: Countries strengthen their export control regimes
  
• Objective 3: The international regimes, treaties and initiatives that underpin global non-proliferation, security and disarmament objectives are strengthened
  
• Objective 4: Support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty is reinforced ahead of the next Review Conference in 2015
  
• Objective 5: Progress is made towards the establishment of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East
  
• Objective 6: The threat posed by conventional weapons to UK, regional and global stability is reduced
  

More detail on these objectives can be found in the Counter-Proliferation programme objectives [PDF 215KB, opens in a new window]

Bidding for funding

Funding is allocated to projects in a competitive bidding process, which is normally run twice per year, with a main bidding round in March, and a smaller bidding round in September.  All bids are considered by a cross-Government Programme Board which decides which projects to fund.

Successful bids in the past have come from a range of academic institutions, NGOs, think tanks and other organisations with relevant contacts or expertise.  Successful bids will make clear what concrete impact the project would have in support of the Programme’s objectives, and will complement rather than duplicate the Government’s considerable conventional diplomatic engagement on these issues.

Next bidding round

The next bidding round will be held in March 2012, with a total of £3m of funding available for projects which can be completed between April 2012 and March 2013.

Organisations wishing to bid for funds should submit a project proposal using the FCO’s proposal form [Word doc 216KB, opens in a new window]. The final deadline for submission of bids is 7 March 2012. Organisations are strongly advised to contact the FCO or their local British Embassy beforehand to discuss their project idea ahead of submitting a formal proposal.

Contact

For further information, please contact: spf.cp@fco.gov.uk