CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT CONCLUDES 2004 SESSION

The Conference on Disarmament, the world’s sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, today concluded the third and last part of its 2004 session after adopting its annual report.

In its report which will be presented to the upcoming General Assembly, the Conference noted that during the annual session, successive Presidents had conducted intensive consultations with a view to reaching a consensus on the programme of work, and a number of informal proposals had been put forward. However, the Conference had not agreed on the programme of work nor had it re-established or established any mechanism on any of its specific agenda items.

The report also noted that informal plenary meetings were held to discuss its six agenda items as well as “new and additional issues related to the agenda of the Conference on Disarmament”; “methodology of the programme of work”; and “how to move forward on substantive issues /programme of work”. The report said that while the informal plenary meetings were considered to be useful and constructive, there was a general feeling among the Member States that efforts should be further intensified in conducting consultations and in exploring possibilities with a view to overcoming the current impasse in the Conference and reaching an agreement on the programme of work.

The Conference on Disarmament works by consensus and cannot undertake new work without the agreement of all Member States.

During the session, the Conference adopted a decision with regard to enhancement of the engagement of civil society in its work. The decision stipulated, among other things, that after the Conference adopted its programme of work, it would allocate one informal plenary meeting per annual session to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to address the Conference. It stated that only NGOs whose activities were relevant to the work of the Conference would be able to address it, and a formal selection process would be put in place to consider requests.

In his concluding statement, the President of the Conference, Ambassador Mya Than of Myanmar, said despite all efforts, the programme of work still remained elusive. Nevertheless, progress had been made in certain areas. Among the achievements made was an enhancement and engagement of cooperation with civil society. The priority of the Conference had been to reach an agreement on its programme of work. During the inter-sessional period, he would continue to interact with Member States, adding that it was his impression that the general feeling among Conference members was that no efforts should be spared to achieve the aims of the Conference.

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a message read out on his behalf at the beginning of the session by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, said that disarmament remained a high priority in the international community. Recent events had inspired demands for new efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of arms control and disarmament agreements, and to revitalize the multilateral disarmament machinery, including the Conference. He had repeatedly voiced concerns about the continuing impasse in the Conference, and had called for prompt political action to break it.

The Secretary-General said political will was essential in overcoming the current impasse and revitalizing the Conference. He was encouraged by the efforts of many Member States to review their policies concerning the priorities on the Conference agenda, and he hoped that the outcome would facilitate bridging divergences and resuming the substantive work of the Conference in 2004.

The report requested the current President and the incoming President to conduct consultations during the intersessional period and, if possible, make recommendations, taking into account all relevant proposals, views presented and discussions held, and to endeavour to keep the membership of the Conference informed, as appropriate, of their consultations.

The following dignitaries addressed the Conference during its 2004 session: Kamal Kharrazi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iran; Bill Graham, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada; Brian Cowen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland; Reaz Rahman, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh; Laila Freivald, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden; Bernard Bot, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands; and Tyronne Fernando, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka.

The Conference decided that the dates for the three parts of its 2005 session would be from 24 January to 1 April; from 30 May to 15 July; and from 8 August to 23 September. During 2005, the rotating Presidency of the Conference will be held by the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan and Peru

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