CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ADOPTS ANNUAL REPORT AND CONCLUDES 2015 SESSION

The Conference on Disarmament this afternoon adopted its annual report to the United Nations General Assembly and concluded its 2015 session. The report will be uploaded here.

The 2015 session of the Conference on Disarmament opened on 20 January with a message by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, delivered by the Acting Secretary-General of the Conference, Michael Møller. In the message, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Conference that the need for progress in multilateral disarmament was greater than ever, but instead of seeking the peace and security of a nuclear-weapon-free world, many actors seemed poised to retreat back into the false security promised by doctrines of mutually assured destruction. The Secretary-General acknowledged the determined and creative efforts over the previous year to bring the Conference back to work, but noted that the Conference had not been designed to deliberate, but to negotiate. The Conference was urged to regain the sense of shared responsibility and do its part to advance peace and security through disarmament.

In March, the Conference held a high-level segment, hearing from a number of dignitaries. A Conference on Disarmament/Civil Society Forum was held on the sidelines of the session on 19 March. In a video message to the Forum, the Secretary-General of the United Nations stressed how civil society had been a catalyst for action on disarmament and arms control, and underlined how in the light of the Conference’s 19-year impasse, fresh approaches were needed. The Forum provided an opportunity to explore ways to break the impasse. The Forum consisted of five panel discussions: on nuclear disarmament; prospects for a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; negative security assurances; prevention of an arms race in outer space; and the way forward.

In June, the Conference adopted two decisions - on the schedule of activities and on the re-establishment of an informal working group on the programme of work. In July, Kim Won-soo, Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, addressed the Conference and appealed to the Conference to demonstrate flexibility, devise innovative solutions and reveal the trust necessary to move forward. Also in July and August, the Conference held informal in-depth, comprehensive and structured discussions under the schedule of activities on the following four substantive agenda items: agenda items 1 and 2 with a general focus on nuclear disarmament; agenda items 1 and 2 with a general focus on the ban of the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices,; agenda item 3 and agenda item 4. Furthermore, on the initiative of the President of the Conference, informal meetings on “the status of nuclear disarmament and possible further steps”; on “the ban of the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices”; on “negative security assurances”; on “gender and disarmament”; and on “the prevention of an arms race in outer space and possible further steps” took place. In September, the Conference heard from Karel von Oosterom, Chairman-designate of the First Committee, who underlined that there was a direct link between the work of the Conference on Disarmament and the First Committee, and it was important to reinforce the existing connections and develop new connections between the two.

In September, the President of the Conference addressed a letter to the Conference transmitting the reports of the coordinators of informal meetings on four substantive agenda items: nuclear disarmament; ban of the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons; prevention of an arms race in outer space; and effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

The 2016 session of the Conference on Disarmament will begin on 25 January 2016. It will be divided into three parts: from 25 January to 1 April, from 16 May to 1 July, and from 2 August to 16 September. Details and documents can be found on the webpage of the Conference, while press releases for all public meetings of the 2015 session are available here.



For use of the information media; not an official record

DC15/046E