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Disarmament Commission
The General Assembly, by its resolution 502 (VI) of January
1952, created the United Nations Disarmament Commission under
the Security Council with a general mandate on disarmament
questions. However, it met only occasionally after 1959.
One big highlight of the disarmament conversation happened
in June 1978. The First Special Session on Disarmament (known
as SSOD1) occured at a time when the psychotic nature of the
nuclear and conventional arms race was apparent even to its
principle actors. The document
that resulted from the First Special Session on Disarmament
outlined a consensus disarmament agenda, as yet unfulfilled.
It is well worth reading.
SSOD1 established a successor Disarmament Commission (UNDC)
as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly, composed of
all Member States of the United Nations. The Disarmament Commission
was created as a deliberative body, with the function of considering
and making recommendations on various problems in the field
of disarmament and of following up on the relevant decisions
and recommendations of the special session.
The UNDC, which meets for three weeks in the spring, operates
in plenary meetings and working groups, the number of working
groups depending on the number of substantive items on its
agenda. The five geographical groups take turns assuming the
chairmanship of the UNDC, while the chairmen of the working
groups are selected in accordance with the principle of equitable
geographical distribution The UNDC is serviced substantively
by the Department for Disarmament Affairs and technically
by the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference
Services.
It reports annually to the General Assembly. In the light
of its function, the UNDC focuses on a limited number of agenda
items at each session. In 1989, to allow for in-depth consideration,
it decided that its substantive agenda should be limited to
a maximum of four items. From 1993, it has, in practice, dealt
with two or three items, each of which has usually been considered
for three consecutive years. In 1998, by its decision 52/492,
the General Assembly decided that the UNDC's agenda, as of
2000, would normally comprise two substantive items.
Another document worth reading is the 16
Principles of Verification of the UNDC, passed
by the General Assembly in 1996.
In 2001, a woman chaired the Disarmament Commission for the
first time: Diane Quarless of Jamaica.
UNDC 2008 Session
7-25 April
Chairperson: Ambassador Piet de Klerk (Netherlands)
Chair of Working Group I: Mr. Jean Francis Zinsou (Benin)
Chair of Working Group II: Mr. Carolos Luis Dantas C. Perez
(Brazil)
UNDC 2007 Session
Chairperson: Elbio Rosselli (Uruguay)
Vice-Chairpeople: Representatives of Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Germany, Islamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria, Peru, Poland,
and Switzerland
Rapporteur: Bassam Darwish (Syrian Arab Republic)
This year is the second in a three-year cycle that focused
on two agreed agenda items: recommendations for achieving
the objectives of nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation;
and practical confidence-building measures in the field of
conventional weapons.
During the 2007 session, the UNDC's nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation working group made some headway. The Chair,
Ambassador Zinsou of Benin, produced a paper that was relatively
well-received. However, after nearly a week of additions,
the paper grew to a formidable 16 pages, turning into more
of a compilation
of views than a document of consensus recommendations.
On the suggestion of several governments, he resubmitted a
relatively
short simple paper that could be agreed upon, but was
clearly the lowest-common denominator and deficient in disarmament.
The Report
of the Disarmament Commission for 2007 notes that the
Chair hopes his working paper “will be a basis for further
deliberations for the formulation of consent recommendations”
at the end of 2008.
UNDC 2006 Session
Chairman: H.E. Mr. Oh Joon, Republic of Korea
Vice-Chairs: Representatives from Austria, Belarus, Iran,
Israel and Poland
Rapporteur: Senegal
Working Group I on Nuclear Disarmament
Chairman: Jean-Francis Zinsou, Benin
Working Group II on Conventional Weapon Disarmament
Chairman: H.E. Ronaldo Sardenberg, Brazil
Agenda:
- Recommendations for achieving the
objectives of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation
of nuclear weapons.
- Practical confidence-building measures
in the field of conventional weapons.
Provisional
Agenda
Programme of Work
The 2006 UN Disarmament Commission
(DC)
concluded on April 28, 2006, having produced a number
of discussion papers but with no consensus on anything but
procedural reports. The DC remained saturated with tension
between the United States and Iran, and the two engaged in
a verbal duel at the final session of the Commission. Working
Group I on Nuclear Disarmament forwarded 13 undifferentiated
papers
to the 2007 session, while Working Group II on Confidence
Building Measures also forwarded a paper for possible consideration
next year. The Commission was only able to agree on recommendations
for improving the effectiveness of its Methods of Work, though
reaching that agreement was also fairly contentious.
Read more about the conclusion
of the 2006 DC in our E-news
Advisory page.
The Commission has the most time allocated
to multilateral substantive consideration of nuclear disarmament
in any of the disarmament fora in years. The Commission can
only make recommendations, like the 1999
guidelines for Nuclear Weapon Free Zones, but this opportunity
should be seized to find common ground and compromise on nuclear
disarmament at a time when international disarmament negotiations
(and even deliberations) are at an impasse. New Under-Secretary
General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuaki
Tanaka told the Commission they had a responsibility to
provide fresh momentum by using new and creative thinking
instead of allowing posturing to get in the way of results.
Read more about the Commission's
first
half.
The Disarmament Commission finally
adopted a substantive agenda at its Dec 12, 2005
organizational meeting. This comes as somewhat of a surprise,
as the Commission has been without an agenda for three years
and the United States declined to participate in the consensus
adoption of this year's First Committee resolution on the
Disarmament Commission. The United States also blocked consensus
on adopting an agenda at the Commission's
2005 organizational meeting, in disagreement over the
agenda item on nuclear disarmament. However, through the tireless
work of the Chair, Ambassador Rowe (Sierra Leone), Member
States agreed to a compromise on the disputed Nuclear Disarmament
agenda item.
UNDC 2005 Session
Chairman: Mr. Sylvester Rowe, Sierra Leone
Vice-Chair: Mr. Alisher Vohidov, Uzbekistan
Rapporteur: Ms. Maria Pavlova Tzotzorkova, Bulgaria
Following the postponement of the 2004 session, as of yet
(July 18), the UNDC has still not been able to reach agreement
on its agenda items for the 2005 session. Stay updated on
the latest developments through RCW's General
E-News.
Press releases from the UN: http://disarmament2.un.org/undiscom.htm
Report of the 2005 Session
UNDC 2004 Session
has been postponed
Instead of a regular, formal three week session,
Member States are engaged in informal negotations on items
for the agenda. To stay updated with the progress, subscribe
to RCW's General
E-News Updates today.
Chairman: Ambassador Revaz Adamia, Georgia
Vice-chair: Ms. Filomena Murnaghan, Deputy Permanent Representative
of Ireland
Rapporteur: Mr. Meir Itzchaki, Israel
Statement by Under-Secretary-General
for Disarmament Affairs, Nobuyasu Abe
Press release,
April 7
UNDC March 31- April
17 2003 Session
Mario E. Marolini (Italy), Chairman
Alaa Isaa (Egypt), Chair of Working Group I, "Ways and
Means to Achieve Nuclear Disarmament"
Santiago Irzabal Mourao (Brazil), Chair of Working Group
II, "Practical Confidence Building Measures in the Field
of Conventional Arms"
Statements
Opening General Debate, March 31
Chairman Mario E. Marolini
(Italy)
Jayantha Dhanapala,
Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs
Ambassador Ronaldo Mota
Sardenberg (Brazil)
Ambassador Hu Xiaodi (China)
Counselor Saad Maandi
(Algeria) (French only)
Ambassador Kuniko Inoguchi
(Japan)
Ambassador Christian Faessler
(Switzerland) (English) (French)
Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo
(South Africa)
Ambassador Mochammad S. Hidayat,
Indonesia (on behalf of the Non-Alignment Movement)
Not available:
Jordan
General Debate, day 2, April 1:
Deputy Permanent Representative
Orlando Requeijo (Cuba)
Second Secretary John Gosal
(Canada) (in English) (
in French)
Ambassador Pak Gil Yon (DPRK)
Minister T.P. Seetharam
(India)
Representative J. Sherwood
McGinnis (United States)
Ambassador Munir Akram (Pakistan)
Counselor Jaime Acuna
(Chile) (in Spanish only)
Counsellor
Ioannis Andreadis (European Union)
Not available:
Holy See
Venezuela
submitted by Greece on behalf of the EU (A/CN.10/2003/WG.II/WP.2)
UNDC April 9-27, 2002
Session
Chairs:
Chairman Mario E. Marolini (Italy)
Chair of Working Group I: Yaw Odei Osei (Ghana)
Chair of Working Group II: Gabriela Martinic (Argentina)
Themes: Ways and Means to Achieve Nuclear Disarmament
& Practical Confidence Building Measures in the Field
of Conventional Arms.
Working Method:
Working Group I focused on the Chairman's
working paper on "Ways and Means to Achieve Nuclear
Disarmament".
Working Group II focused on the Chairman's
non-paper on "Practical Confidence-Building Measures".
Press Releases:
27th
April 2001 - Conclusion of the 2001 Session
19th
April, 2001 - Progress Reports from Chairs of Working Groups
I and II
April
10 - Conclusion of General Debate am iiiii pm
April
9 - Opening of General Debate am iiii pm
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