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Since its establishment at the Kananaskis Summit in 2002, the G7-led Global Partnership (GP) has played an unparalleled role in preventing and mitigating threats posed by chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons and related materials. While the GP’s contributions have been unquestionable, quantifying its precise impact has been more difficult. In this context, in 2025/26 the GP engaged Chatham House to complete the first independent evaluation of the GP as a multilateral mechanism. The evaluation’s goal was to review the GP’s achievements and its current relevance as a non-proliferation instrument, and to identify potential changes and improvements to its role, organization, and activities. Chatham House adopted a methodological approach centred around the working processes of the GP, including information sharing, priority setting, facilitation of collaborations, project initiation, implementation, and results reporting. Key questions and areas of focus included:

• How the GP defines its role and purpose and how these have evolved over time, and were adapted to changes in the WMD proliferation landscape
• The workings of the GP as an entity (its advantages and disadvantages compared to other initiatives and mechanisms – looking at added value as well as complementarity)
• The way the GP actually works (its coordination and planning mechanisms and how they ensure effectiveness and efficiency)
• Its main achievements, successes and failures (lessons identified)
• The role of the members of the GP and other actors such as implementers, international organisations, industry, and beneficiaries (levels and depths of engagement, ownership issues, impact of the GP as a mechanism)

The evaluation did not seek to carry out an in-depth analysis of the results achieved by all GP projects, as this would be a much greater task given the thousands of projects implemented under the GP since 2002. Rather, the evaluation conducted a high-level review of 13 projects/project groups that in their totality provide a representative sample of GP activities to enable the evaluation to draw broader conclusions about the effectiveness and efficiency of the work under the GP.

The final evaluation report produced a series of insightful observations, and concluded that the GP:

• Has played a decisive role in reducing the risks it was set up to address. It has proven critical in enabling its like-minded members to coalesce in successfully tackling massive problems.
• Remains the international entity best placed to coordinate and implement a range of projects to address WMD related challenges.
• Strengths include its link with the G7, its ability to convene a broad range of stakeholders, its informal nature, a coordination ability that makes it more than the sum of its parts, and its multi-year commitment to practical concrete projects in beneficiary countries.
• Remains a high priority for some members, but – as demonstrated by the general level of participation and activity, and even attendance at meetings – not all. Although the GP is continuing to achieve its aims today, it is not maximising its potential impact.
• Is challenged by uneven member engagement, limited continuity across presidencies, the lack of a shared perception of a dominant compelling problem to rally around, and the GP’s image as a Western entity, while a concentration of funding and leadership, reliance on individual champions and passive membership pose a risk to its resilience.
• Is under-recognised and lacks institutional strength, but the GP’s absence would leave a dangerous gap in the non-proliferation landscape.

To support the GP’s efforts to remain at the leading edge of global WMD threat reduction, the evaluation issued 17 recommendations focused on i) policy, ii) membership and participation, iii) raising the GP’s profile and iv) operations. GP members are committed to responding to each of the recommendations and will prepare a collective response to the evaluation.