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Expansion of CD membership

Gabriella Irsten
11 February 2015

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Wednesday, 11 February 2015 to discuss the expansion of the membership to the CD. In addition, member states discussed the future of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and South Africa responded to the outrageous remarks made about civil society in yesterday’s meeting.

Expansion of membership

CD President Ambassador Jorge Lomónaco of Mexico presented a brief history of membership expansion, explaining that the last expansions took place in 1996 and 1999, after which a special coordinator was appointed to address the issue in 2001 and 2002. The efforts of this coordinator did not result in any changes to the membership. Rule 2 in the CD Rules of Procedure calls for a review of membership on a regular basis and UN General Assembly resolution 69/76 from last year highlighted the importance of continuing the discussion of expansion in 2015.

  • South Africa, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, and Senegal called for the appointment of a special coordinator for the expansion of the CD membership.
  • The Netherlands, Sweden, and Ireland expressed support and openness to any other suggestion to the solution of the expansion of the membership.
  • The Informal Group of Observers argued that no discussion has taken place on expansion since 2002 and for the CD to resume its relevance it needs to undertake step to increase its transparency and inclusiveness and evolve universal representation by all UN member states.
  • Bulgaria called for regular review of the membership in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.
  • Ireland highlighted the misleading reference in the CD’s annual report stating that expansion was address by member states in 2014.
  • Switzerland expressed the view that membership expansion will bring more legitimacy to the CD.
  • Greece, the longest standing observer state, highlighted that there is no reason to exclude UN member states from the CD and that bilateral issues between states should not stand in the way of expansion.
  • Turkey stated that the CD constantly reviews membership on different occasions And argued that the success of disarmament processes is not connected to membership, giving as an example the lack of progress in the Disarmament Commission (DC), which has universal membership.
  • Turkey concluded with stating that there is no consensus for appointing a coordinator.
  • The US supported an “appropriate but limited” CD expansion.
  • Russia said that whether or not the expansion of the membership would help the CD is just an assumption since there is no way to know in advance. However, it cautioned thatthe last time expansion took place, the CD entered a “deep crisis” that it has not yet overcome.
  • Turkey and Russia also highlighted that their priority is substantive work and therefore attention should not be diverted to the issue of expansion.
  • Algeria highlighted that the appointment of a coordinator does not make much sense if there is no consensus on the principle of expansion.

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)

  • Ambassador Gyarmati, the Chair of the Board of UNIDIR Trustees, urged member states to help find a solution to UNIDIR’s funding crisis. UNIDIR does not fall under the financial support of the UN general budget due to its special status.
  • France, Finland, Belarus, Netherlands, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany indicated support for the important work UNIDIR conducts.
  • Belarus and Switzerland highlighted the importance of working with UNGA First Committee and Fifth Committee in order to create funds for UNIDIR.

Civil society participation

  • South Africa took the floor to register its concern with the manner in which women in civil society were addressed in yesterday’s discussion. “Such characterizations are in affront to all women and serve to undermine the important role that women play in advancing peace and security,” noted South Africa’s delegate. “Irrespective of whether they hailed from states or civil society. This is not only a principle matter for South Africa but for the international community as a whole.” The delegate drew member states’ attention to the UN General Assembly resolution on women and disarmament initiated by Trinidad and Tobago.

  • South Africa’s comment was supported by the CD President, Austria, Sweden, and the United States.