High-Level Exchange of the First Committee of the 73rd General Assembly

Chairperson,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and gentleman:

I greatly value the opportunity to be with you at a pivotal moment for this important decision making forum for international security and disarmament.

Looking at the disarmament machinery today, no one can say that it has lived up to the aspirations of its architects over the past two decades.

40 years ago, the First Special Session of the General Assembly on Disarmament created much of the machinery which we still work with today.

But at the turn of the century, multilateral disarmament institutions and normative regimes entered a state of political inertia. Just as the world became increasingly chaotic; just as the challenges of the new century increasingly outpaced the institutions and mindsets created in the last one.

Global spending on weapons is going up, nuclear-armed states continue to modernize their arsenals, and technologies are creating a new frontier and arms race. Just this year, we saw outrageous uses of chemical weapons, in full impunity despite their ban.

As the High Representative said, these are indeed troubling trends.

But this year also brought reason for cautious optimism.

The Secretary-General launched his disarmament agenda in Geneva, re-focusing global attention on the need for robust disarmament, instilling much needed urgency and signposting the way forward.

We saw positive developments in the Conference of Disarmament:
̶ The decision to establish five subsidiary bodies.
̶ The commitment to conduct substantive discussions and work.
̶ The achievement of consensus and adoption of reports from four of the five bodies. The only regrettable exception being the lack of consensus on negative security assurances.

I invite you to explore the detailed annexes of the CD’s report to the General Assembly which showcase the excellent work done by the subsidiary bodies.

This is significant progress and I am deeply appreciative of the efforts involved in getting to this point.

We can draw some relevant lessons from the past year:
̶ One, how critically important and impactful the CD 6 presidents can be if they work as a team.
̶ Two, how central continued regular interactions in the Conference are to the broader disarmament universe - whether in safeguarding non-proliferation, improving transparency or building confidence.
̶ And three, how crucial it is not to overly politicize the proceedings of the Conference. Its success depends on remaining a place where multilateral negotiations can take place in a serene and professional atmosphere.

Looking ahead, I am cautiously optimistic about the chances for further progress. It will be key for the 2019 session to continue with the subsidiary bodies. Ultimately - hopefully - we can thereby pave the way for the resumption of disarmament negotiations in the CD. It is past time we do so.

What else can be done?

A fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament would be the appropriate forum to take more far-reaching decisions on the status and functions of UN disarmament organs.

But pending this step, there are measures we can take to use existing institutions more effectively, regularly, and ultimately more successfully.

Specifically, I would suggest:
̶ Improving coordination and synergies among disarmament organs, including closer integration of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters into deliberative processes and negotiations.
̶ Reducing redundancies in deliberations by clarifying responsibilities;
̶ Improving our use of available expertise, strengthening information flows, and, finally, achieving more equitable representation.

I also want to mention UNIDIR here, whose mandate, expertise and autonomy make it a vital source of knowledge and ideas. I am convinced that UNIDIR can play a more strategic role in facilitating dialogue and supporting disarmament processes in New York as well as Geneva. I urge Member States to give serious consideration to the recommendations you requested the SG to make on a sustainable foundation for UNIDIR.

Renata Dwan, UNIDIR’s new Director, will elaborate on three measures that I see as critical in retooling disarmament: namely, achieving full and equal participation of women; deepening our engagement with the private sector; and better integrating civil society.

Distinguished delegates:

Once negotiated, disarmament agreements require nurturing. They require states to dedicate time and resources commensurate with the decisions they have taken.

Today, however, the financial situation of many disarmament conventions is a matter of serious concern.

State Parties either pay very late or not at all.

In Geneva we support and service the APLC, BWC, CCM and CCW. For each of these agreements, States have taken on serious and important obligations.

One important element is ensuring funds are available for meetings to go ahead, and for implementation support structures to be maintained.

The Organization cannot accept liability for supporting these bodies without adequate remittances in response to annual assessments. This impairs our services to States and planned activities cannot be implemented in full. We have raised this repeatedly with State Parties over the years, with insufficient results.

We urgently need to find solutions and we are working closely with the respective Chairs in Geneva to that end.

One idea would be to create economies of scale by merging some of the secretariats of the disarmament conventions. Other conventions - the Common Secretariat on Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes Conventions, for example - have done exactly that, and with great success.

Distinguished delegates:

I mentioned earlier the challenges of the new century outpacing institutions created in the last one.

Nowhere is this divide more obvious than in how we manage new technologies.

The promise of technology is boundless. Tackling climate change, boosting growth, curing deadly diseases - none of it is conceivable without technology. Technology can turbocharge our implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Viewed through a security lens, however, there are plenty of reasons to be cautious. Developments in science and technology need to be coupled with incentives to ensure innovation is responsible, accountable and transparent.

Because if the promise of technology is boundless, its dystopian downside is just as great.

We face a new arms race in an entirely new battlefield: cyberspace.

Our legal, humanitarian and ethical norms face unprecedented challenges.

Fundamental questions that often get overlooked are whether we will succeed in humanizing technology, rather than technologizing humanity; and whether technology will be used responsibly or in ways that bring unspeakable harm.

Much of it depends on multilateral efforts.

The UN is the neutral table for all stakeholders to come together and agree the way towards a technological future that is safe and beneficial for all.

The Conference on Disarmament is increasingly debating these issues, but they transcend institutions. They require more and perhaps unexpected partnerships; a new mindset of creativity, innovation and interdisciplinarity. They require us to break down silos.

As clearly stated in the Secretary-General’s agenda, disarmament needs to be positioned in a broader context - as part and parcel of parallel efforts in development, health, migration, and countless other fields.

Which brings me to Geneva, the operational center of the multilateral system. In helping implement the 2030 Agenda, we have opened new pathways of collaboration across disciplines, a new way of doing business that is also infusing our disarmament work.

Because retooling disarmament is about structural reform and a change in mindset.

UN Geneva is the ideal place to progress on both. It is not just its unique ecosystem of actors - spanning international organizations, the private sector and NGOs - that touch the entire disarmament spectrum.

It is just as much its historic legacy as the world’s oldest hub for disarmament negotiations, dating back almost 100 years.

From the world’s first Disarmament Conference under the League of Nations all the way to the establishment of today’s Conference six decades later - Geneva has always been the natural home for disarmament.

Distinguished delegates:

We have the means and we may again have the momentum necessary to make real progress in global disarmament.

The UN Secretariat is ready to play its part, in New York and in Geneva. But we can only hope for success if Member States are ready to take bold, courageous actions towards reinvigorating our collective efforts.

Thank you.