CD considers proposal on renewal of the IWG
Mia Gandenberger | Reaching Critical Will
4 February 2014
The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Tuesday, 4 February 2014 to review a draft proposal on re-establishing the Informal Working Group (IWG). The Conference heard a statement by the United States Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Ms. Rose Gottemoeller, and the delegations of Japan, Ethiopia, Slovakia, Sweden, Italy, the Informal Group of Observer States (IGOS), Canada, India, Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, and Mexico.
- The CD President, Ambassador Eviatar Manor of Israel, informed the Conference that his consultations have revealed to that due to the diversion of views there is no consensus on a programme of work for 2014.
- He proposed to renew the mandate for the IWG identical to the one contained in CD/1956/Rev.1 with technical updates for the 2014 session. Amendments to the proposal can be submitted in writing until 5pm on Tuesday, 5 February 2014.
- The proposal was welcomed by the United States, Japan, Ethiopia, Slovakia, Sweden, Italy, the IGOS, Canada, Germany, Kenya, and Netherlands. The delegation of Mexico recalled its reservations to the proposal from 2013, but declared it would not block the potential renewal. India explained it was not prepared to accept the draft as contained in the non-paper and underscored that the draft decisions need to be amended to fit the circumstances of 2014.
- The six CD Presidents of 2014 are working on a schedule of activities for structured discussions on the items on the agenda of the CD. Italy, Slovakia, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and the IGOS expressed support for this effort. The IGOS suggested including discussions on the enlargement of the CD in the schedule.
Next plenary meeting
The next plenary meeting will be held on Tuesday, 11 February at 10:00 in the Council Chamber.