United Nations General Assembly

A/C.1/57/L.20

10 October 2002

Original: English

Fifty-seventh session

First Committee

Agenda item 67 (a)

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines and South Africa: draft resolution

United Nations Disarmament Information Programme

The General Assembly,

Recalling its decision taken in 1982 at its twelfth special session, the second special session devoted to disarmament, by which the World Disarmament Campaign was launched,

Bearing in mind its resolution 47/53 D of 9 December 1992, in which it decided, inter alia, that the World Disarmament Campaign should be known thereafter as the "United Nations Disarmament Information Programme" and the World Disarmament Campaign Voluntary Trust Fund as the "Voluntary Trust Fund for the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme",

Recalling its resolutions 51/46 A of 10 December 1996, 53/78 E of 4 December 1998, and 55/34 A of 20 November 2000,

Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme;

2. Commends the Secretary-General for his efforts to make effective use of the limited resources available to him in disseminating as widely as possible, including by electronic means, information on arms limitation and disarmament to Governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, educational communities and research institutes, and in carrying out a seminar and conference programme;

3. Stresses the importance of the Programme, as a significant instrument in enabling all Member States to participate fully in the deliberations and negotiations on disarmament in the various United Nations bodies, and in assisting them in complying with treaties, as required, and in contributing to agreed mechanisms for transparency;

4. Notes with appreciation the cooperation of the United Nations Department of Public Information and its information centres in pursuit of the objectives of the Programme;

5. Recommends that the Programme focus its efforts:

(a) To inform, to educate and to generate public understanding of the importance of multilateral action and support for it, including action by the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament, in the field of arms limitation and disarmament, in a factual, balanced and objective manner, inter alia, to continue to publish in all official languages The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook and to report on the results of the survey of users, as well as to continue to produce ad hoc publications in print and electronic form;

(b) To continue to maintain the Disarmament Internet web site, including frequent updates of the databases such as the Status of Multilateral Arms Regulation and Disarmament Agreements and the disarmament-related Resolutions and Decisions of the General Assembly, as a part of the United Nations web site and to produce versions of the site in as many official languages as feasible;

(c) To continue to intensify United Nations interaction with the public, principally non-governmental organizations and research institutes, to help further an informed debate on topical issues on arms limitation, disarmament and security;

(d) To continue to organize discussions on topics of interest in the field of arms limitation and disarmament with a view to broadening understanding and facilitating an exchange of views and information among Member States and civil society;

6. Invites all Member States to make contributions to the Voluntary Trust Fund for the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme with a view to sustaining a strong outreach programme;

7. Takes note of the recommendations made in the study on disarmament and non-proliferation education submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session and commends to the attention of the Secretary-General for implementation those recommendations relating to the United Nations, without cost to the regular budget of the Organization; and invites him to continue his support and cooperation with universities, other academic institutions and non-governmental organizations active in the education field in widening the worldwide availability of disarmament and non-proliferation education;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session a report covering both the implementation of the activities of the Programme by the United Nations system during the previous two years and the activities of the Programme contemplated by the system for the following two years;

9. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-ninth session the item entitled "United Nations Disarmament Information Programme".