General Assembly Distr.: Limited

9 October 2002

Fifty-seventh session

First Committee

Agenda item 66

General and complete disarmament

South Africa, On behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.

Promotion of multilateralism in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation

The General Assembly,

Determined to foster strict respect for the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling its resolution 56/24 T of 29 November 2001 on "Multilateral cooperation in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation and global efforts against terrorism" and other relevant resolutions,

Recalling also the purpose of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling the Millennium Declaration, which states, inter alia, that the responsibility for managing worldwide economic and social development, as well as threats to international peace and security, must be shared among the nations of the world and should be exercised multilaterally and that as the most universal and most representative organization in the world, the United Nations must play the central role,

Convinced that in the globalization era and the information revolution, arms regulation, non-proliferation and disarmament problems are more than ever the concern of all countries in the world, which are affected one way or another by these problems and therefore should have the possibility to participate in the negotiations that arise to tackle them,

Bearing in mind the existence of a wide structure of arms and disarmament regulation agreements resulting from non-discriminatory multilateral negotiations with the participation of a large number of countries regardless of their size and power,

Aware of the need to further advance in the field of arms regulation, non-proliferation and disarmament on the basis of universal, multilateral, non-discriminatory negotiations with the goal of reaching general and complete disarmament under strict international control,

Recognizing the complementarity of bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral negotiations on disarmament,

Recognizing that the proliferation and development of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons is among the most immediate threats against international peace and security which need to be dealt with, with the highest priority,

Considering that the multilateral disarmament agreements provide the mechanism for the States Parties to consult one another and to cooperate in solving any problems which may arise in relation to the objective of, or in the application of, the provisions of the agreements and that such consultations and cooperation may also be undertaken through appropriate international procedures within the framework of the United Nations and in accordance with the United Nations Charter,

Stressing that international cooperation, peaceful settlement of disputes, dialogue and confidence-building measures would essentially contribute to the creation of multilateral and bilateral friendly relations among peoples and nations,

Being concerned about the continuous erosion of multilateralism in the field of arms regulation, non-proliferation and disarmament, and recognizing that the resort to unilateral actions by the Member States in resolving their security concerns would jeopardize international peace and security and undermines confidence in the international security system as well as the foundations of the United Nations itself,

Reaffirming the absolute validity of multilateral diplomacy in the field of disarmament and determined to promote multilateralism as an essential way to develop arms regulation and disarmament negotiations,

1.        Reaffirms multilateralism as the core principle in negotiations in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation with a view to maintaining and strengthening universal norms and enlarging their scope;

2.        Reaffirms further multilateralism as the core principle in resolving disarmament and non-proliferation concerns;

3.        Urges the participation of all interested States in multilateral negotiations on arms regulation, non-proliferation and disarmament in a non-discriminatory manner;

4.        Underlines the importance of preserving the existing agreements on arms regulation and disarmament, which constitute an expression of the results of the international cooperation and multilateral negotiations in response to the challenges facing mankind;

5.        Calls once again upon all Member States to renew and fulfil their individual and collective commitments to multilateral cooperation as an important means of pursuing and achieving their common objectives in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation;

6.        Requests the States Parties to the relevant instruments on weapons of mass destruction to consult and cooperate among themselves in resolving their concerns with regard to cases of non-compliance as well as on their implementation, in accordance with the procedures defined in those instruments, and refrain from resorting or threatening to resort to unilateral actions or directing unverified non-compliance accusations against one another, to resolve their concerns;

7.        Requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of the Member States on the issue of promotion of multilateralism in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session;

8.        Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session an item entitled "Promotion of multilateralism in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation".