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Groundhog day at the CD

Mia Gandenberger
17 February 2015 

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met Tuesday, 17 February 2015 for the first time under the Presidency of Mongolia. Acting Secretary General of the CD, Mr. Michael Møller, briefed member states on the progress of the organization of the CD-Civil Society Forum. The Russian Federation, France, Australia, Algeria, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, and India participated in the ensuing discussion. The United Kingdom informed about the latest P5-meeting in London on 4-5 February 2015.   
 
The CD President, Ambassador Vaanchig Purevdorj of Mongolia, announced he would like to hold formal plenaries on the four core issues over the next weeks:

  • 24 February addressing nuclear disarmament;
  • 26 Feb addressing a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT);
  • 3 March addressing the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS); and
  • 10 March addressing negative security assurances (NSA). 

For the remainder of the session the CD President is aiming to reach agreement on a schedule of activities of more informal sessions on the CD agenda items.
 
Acting Secretary General of the CD, Mr. Michael Møller, presented the progress made regarding the organization of the CD-Civil Society Forum to take place on 19 March 2015:

  • The preliminary list of invited civil society organizations was circulated to member states for their information. Russian Federation, France, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Spain, and India had clarifying questions regarding the list.
  • Mr. Møller stressed the informal nature of the forum.
  • Confirmed civil society speakers are: Susi Snyder on nuclear disarmament, Zia Mian and Patricia Lewis on FMCT, Aaron Tovish and Hector Guerra on NSA, Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan and Gabriella Irsten on PAROS, and Patricia Lewis and Mia Gandenberger on “The Way Forward”.
  • Confirmed state speakers are: the United Kingdom and South Africa on nuclear disarmament, Canada and Algeria on FMCT, Brazil and Germany on NSA, Russia on PAROS, US and Mexico on “The Way Forward”.
  • A final list of confirmed speakers will be circulated at a later stage. 

Next plenary
The next plenary will be held on Tuesday, 24 February at 10.00 in the Council Chamber.