CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT CONCLUDES 2014 SESSION

The Conference on Disarmament adopted its annual report to the United Nations General Assembly and concluded its 2014 session in a public plenary today. The session officially ends on Friday 12 September.

Ambassador Mazlan Muhammad of Malaysia, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said after a thorough discussion assisted by a spirit of compromise a draft Annual Report of the Conference on Disarmament had been circulated. The Conference then decided to adopt its annual report. The President informed the Conference that he would present a resolution on the Report of the Conference on Disarmament to the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session in New York later this month. A first draft of the resolution would be circulated to States next week for their consideration.

The Conference’s annual report (to be uploaded here) recorded the decision to e-establish the Informal Working Group with a mandate to produce a programme of work robust in substance and progressive over time, and that the Group met three times, in May, July and August, although consensus on a programme of work was not achieved this session. The report also stated that the Conference agreed a schedule of activities for the 2014 session, pursuant to which a series of informal, open-ended meetings on all agenda items were held.

Speaking in today’s plenary were Egypt, Russia, Myanmar and Pakistan. Egypt briefly clarified its position on Conference document CD/1299 with regard to a statement made yesterday by the United Kingdom. Russia expressed hope that the compromise States found in agreeing the draft annual report would inspire Member States to work together in the next session in agreeing a programme of work. Myanmar announced it would table a draft resolution on nuclear disarmament at the First Committee of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The annual resolution, which was co-sponsored by ASEAN Member States and other like-minded countries, reflected interim measures and steps to be taken by nuclear-weapon States as well as various multilateral approaches leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Pakistan also took the floor to express appreciation to the President in finding consensus for the Annual Report.

The 2014 session of the Conference on Disarmament opened with an address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Conference that although it remained unable to begin substantive negotiations, the world had not waited, recalling the atrocious use of chemical weapons in Syria in 2013. The Secretary-General urged the Conference not to hide behind utopian logic which said that until there was a perfect security environment, nuclear disarmament could not proceed. It must face the realities of the 21st century. The Secretary-General suggested the development of treaty frameworks and proposals through structured discussions which would lay a foundation for future negotiations.

In March, the Conference on Disarmament decided to re-establish the Informal Working Group with a mandate to produce a programme of work robust in substance and progressive over time. The same month it was addressed by John Ashe, President of the United Nations General Assembly, who said the past achievements of the Conference were commendable but it risked being defined by its history, and was too valuable a body to suffer such a fate.

On 20 May, Michael Møller, Acting Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, made four proposals to revitalize the Conference, which States responded to with divergent views. Mr. Møller told the Conference that its machinery had been clogged for much too long, but he continued to believe that with the shared political will of its Members, the Conference, even in its present form, could build on its recent, renewed momentum.

During its 2014 session the Conference also heard addresses by many high-level dignitaries, including the Foreign and other Ministers of several States, as well its annual address from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

The next session of the Conference on Disarmament begins on 19 January 2015. It will be divided into three parts: from 19 January to 27 March, from 25 May to 10 July and from 3 August to 18 September. Details and documents can be found on its webpage and press releases for all public meetings of the 2014 session are available here.


For use of the information media; not an official record

DC14/034E