Tatiana Valovaya: the Conference on Disarmament Needs to be Modernised to Correspond to the Rapidly Evolving Strategic Security Environment
Tatiana Valovoya, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, today told the Conference that while the historical significance of the Conference was recognised, it also needed to be modernised to correspond to the rapidly evolving strategic security environment.
Ms. Valovaya said the Conference was starting at a time of great tensions between its members. Last year, despite the promising start, the Conference had witnessed how tensions had unravelled the process of adoption of the Conference’s annual report to the General Assembly and the General Assembly resolution. In the face of increasing tensions, the single multilateral negotiating forum of the international community needed to continue to create sustainable solutions for global peace and security. She remained convinced that the Conference continued to remain a crucial element of the global disarmament architecture. Ms. Valovaya said she believed that all Member States continued to value and believe in its role, although they wanted to see change in its working practices.
While the historical significance of the Conference was recognised, it also needed to be modernised to correspond to the rapidly evolving strategic security environment, Ms. Valovoya said. It needed to be ensured that the Conference was fit-for-purpose to produce effective solutions to today’s disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control challenges. She urged all members to exercise maximum political will and flexibility to allow the Conference to achieve its full potential.
Ms. Valovoya recognised that converging on common ground to negotiate new treaties against the current geopolitical backdrop would be difficult. However, historically, it was during bleak times that the Conference had achieved some of its greatest accomplishments. Therefore, it was especially important that the Conference’s members upheld the principles of multilateralism by engaging in respectful, inclusive and constructive dialogue.
Speaking in the plenary were Senegal on behalf of the Group 21, Chile, Iran, Canada, Algeria, Australia, Türkiye, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, India, Spain, Netherlands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Cuba and Ukraine.
The next plenary of the Conference on Disarmament will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 31 January, to continue to hear general statements, and right of reply statements. The Conference will also address the requests from non-member States that wished to participate in the 2023 session
Statement by the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament
TATIANA VALOVOYA, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Conference was starting at a time of great tensions between its members. Last year, despite the promising start, the Conference had witnessed how tensions had unravelled the process of adoption of the Conference’s annual report to the General Assembly and the General Assembly resolution. Ms. Valovoya remained convinced that the Conference continued to remain a crucial element of the global disarmament architecture. She believed that all Member States continued to value and believe in its role, although they wanted to see change in its working practices. In the face of increasing tensions, the single multilateral negotiating forum of the international community needed to continue to create sustainable solutions for global peace and security.
Ms. Valovoya recognised that converging on common ground to negotiate new treaties against the current geopolitical backdrop would be difficult. However, historically, it was during bleak times that the Conference had achieved some of its greatest accomplishments. Therefore, it was especially important that the Conference’s members upheld the principles of multilateralism by engaging in respectful, inclusive and constructive dialogue. While the historical significance of the Conference was recognised, it also needed to be modernised, to correspond to the rapidly evolving strategic security environment. It needed to be ensured that the Conference was fit-for-purpose to produce effective solutions to today’s disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control challenges. Ms. Valovoya urged all members to exercise maximum political will and flexibility to allow the Conference to achieve its full potential. She and her team were ready to support the Conference on Disarmament in carrying out its vital work.
Discussion
Some States emphasised that the Conference on Disarmament was the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, and underscored the importance of preserving it. The Conference was an indispensable forum in the areas of non-proliferation and arms control. However, others noted that the Conference provoked mixed feelings. What was supposed to be a negotiating forum had negotiated nothing for many years now. While the main results of its work were recognised, which included the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, its stagnation was concerning. It was also worrying that its existence was justified only by "past glories", and that for more than two decades it had not been able to fulfil its original mandate. Some States were disappointed at the poor outcome at last year’s session of the Conference, which had produced a meaningless report and a poor and voted resolution, despite the best efforts of Presidents and many delegations. The report and the resolution did not address disarmament and non-proliferation, the international security environment, the failings of the disarmament machinery, or other important issues that affected the work of the Conference.
A number of States reiterated the urgency for the Conference to fulfil its mandate and to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive programme of work. If a comprehensive and balanced programme of work that covered the whole range of issues could not be agreed on, the Conference should focus on other substantive items, tackle issues ripe for negotiations, and hold discussions on ways to make the Conference more effective. Agreeing upon a programme of work had proven to be a procedural hurdle blocking substantive discussions. Member States must continue to support efforts to achieve a programme of work, which would be an acceptable first step towards alleviating the prevailing situation of polarisation and mistrust. For this to be possible, it was essential for all members to collaborate.
States were concerned about the increasing modernisation of nuclear arsenals and the lack of concrete disarmament commitments, stating that nuclear disarmament must be the highest priority. There was an urgent need to reach an agreement to ensure that no nuclear-weapon State threatened non-nuclear-weapon States with their use. It was maintained that at the beginning of 2022, global stockpiles had reached more than 12,000 nuclear warheads; the international community could not remain silent. Concern was expressed that the major nuclear powers continued to have high levels of alert for operational systems, which considerably increased the risk of the use of nuclear weapons and of an irreversible nuclear confrontation which would have catastrophic consequences for people and the planet. Some States said that non-nuclear weapons States had decided to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty with the understanding that they would not be the target or threat of use of nuclear weapons. It was hoped there would be an end to threats of the use of nuclear weapons, keeping in mind the statement made by the Nuclear Weapon States that a nuclear war could not be won and must never be fought.
Some States deeply regretted the failed Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, due to the blockade by one State party, and called on all States to participate effectively in the forthcoming Review Conference to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons. Member States of the Conference were urged to agree to commence negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty at the earliest opportunity, as this vital next step towards ridding the world of nuclear weapons could no longer be delayed. Pending that, an immediate step that could be taken was the declaration and maintenance of a moratorium on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices. This was outlined as an important contribution that could be made to global disarmament efforts unilaterally.
With regard to outer space, some States expressed concern about the risk of the possible development of an arms race in outer space. Space security was key to maintaining a peaceful outer space for the benefit of all humanity and States expressed support for the initiative to negotiate a treaty banning the weaponisation of outer space. It was hoped that the Open-ended Working Group on Space Threat Reduction through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Conduct, whose third and fourth sessions were to take place throughout 2023, would achieve successful results. Many States were committed to preserving space as a secure, safe and sustainable domain within the framework of international law. The key to limiting the risk of conflict in space was through an international adherence to responsible behaviour.
Several States were seriously concerned that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea continued with its nuclear and missile programmes in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, and condemned the multiple ballistic launches undertaken by the State. There was concern about the possibility of a forthcoming nuclear test which would represent a threat to the stability of the region, as well as a further challenge to the resilience of the multilateral non-proliferation system. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was urged to take urgent steps to abandon these programmes, return to full compliance with its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations and sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty as a matter of priority. Some States reaffirmed their strong commitment to the irreversible dismantlement of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
A number of States also noted Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its reckless nuclear threats, calling for the war to stop immediately, with all occupied territories to be returned to Ukraine. They said they would continue to support the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom, independence and territorial integrity.
The Conference was informed that the Russian aggression against Ukraine had resulted in over 9,000 civilian casualties, with over 55,000 residential houses destroyed, as well as the damage of over 40 per cent of Ukraine’s power system. These figures were growing daily and did not take into account temporarily occupied areas where destruction was much higher. Only today in the past several hours, Russia had launched 55 missiles across Ukraine, deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and killing innocent civilians; this needed to stop.
Some States reiterated the call for a gender perspective in the Conference, strengthening the link between gender and disarmament. They would continue to emphasise the importance of mainstreaming gender perspectives in the way peace and security, arms control and disarmament were approached. They would also continue to call for the simple, but significant, change to the Conference’s rules of procedure to reflect the equality of men and women, because it was the right thing to do and served the interests of the Conference. It was vital that the Conference adopted a gender revised version of the rules of procedure, which should have been done a long time ago.
Several States said that a nuclear arms race was underway and the role of the Conference on Disarmament was more crucial than ever. Multilateralism and diplomacy were under unprecedented attacks. The President should continue to conduct comprehensive consultations with all delegations to the Conference on Disarmament. Despite the setbacks faced, delegates to the Conference needed to address the challenging international security environment, using all the multilateral tools effectively, including the Conference on Disarmament. This meant asking questions about the way work was done and how the Conference could be improved. The issues discussed within the Conference were still timely and it was crucial that the General Assembly carried out a serious reflection of the disarmament machinery. The year 2023 could not be a year where the Conference was once again considered irrelevant. This year was an opportunity to make a genuine impact to international peace and security.
Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
DC23.003E