General Assembly Distr.: Limited

9 October 2002

Original: English

Fifty-seventh session

First Committee

Agenda item 66 (i)

General and complete disarmament: Convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly
devoted to disarmament

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

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 49/75 I of 15 December 1994, 50/70 F of 12 December 1995, 51/45 C of 10 December 1996, 52/38 F of 9 December 1997, 53/77 AA of 4 December 1998, 54/54 U of 1 December 1999, 55/33 M of 20 November 2000 and 56/24 D of 29 November 2001,

Recalling also that, there being a consensus to do so in each case, three special sessions of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament were held in 1978, 1982 and 1988, respectively,

Bearing in mind the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, adopted by consensus at the first special session devoted to disarmament, which included the Declaration, Programme of Action and Machinery for Disarmament,

Bearing in mind also the objective of general and complete disarmament under effective international control,

Taking note of paragraph 145 of the Final Document of the Twelfth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Durban, South Africa, from 29 August to 3 September 1998, which supported the convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament which would offer an opportunity to review, from a perspective more in tune with the current international situation, the most critical aspects of the process of disarmament and to mobilize the international community and public opinion in favour of the elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and of the control and reduction of conventional weapons,

Taking note also of the report of the 1999 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission and of the fact that no consensus was reached on the item entitled "Fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament",

Desiring to build upon the substantive exchange of views on the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament during the 1999 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission,

Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration adopted by the Heads of State and Government during the United Nations Millennium Summit held in New York from 6 to 8 September 2000 in which they resolved "to strive for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons and to keep all options open for achieving this aim, including the possibility of convening an international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers",

Reiterating its conviction that a special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament can set the future course of action in the field of disarmament, arms control and related international security matters,

Emphasizing the importance of multilateralism in the process of disarmament, arms control and related international security matters,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (A/57/120) regarding the views of Member States of the United Nations on the objectives, agenda and timing of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament,

1.        Decides to establish an open-ended working group to consider the objectives and agenda, including the establishment of the preparatory committee, for the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, taking note of the paper presented by the Chairman of Working Group II during the 1999 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission as well as the reports of the Secretary-General of the United Nations regarding the views of Member States of the United Nations on the objectives, agenda and timing of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament;

2.        Requests the open-ended working group to meet for an organizational session in order to set the date for its substantive sessions, and to submit a report on its work, including substantive recommendations, before the end of the fifty-seventh General Assembly session;

3.     Requests the Secretary-General to provide the open-ended working group with  the necessary assistance and services as may be required to discharge its tasks;

4.       Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session the item entitled "Convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament".