5 years 4 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS BY RUSSIA, SRI LANKA, UNITED STATES, ITALY AND PAKISTAN AS THE PRESIDENT
29 March 2016
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard statements from Russia about its proposed draft international convention for the suppression of acts of chemical terrorism, Sri Lanka on the importance of nuclear disarmament, the United States on its response to the Russian proposal, Italy on how it viewed all the proposals before the Conference, and Pakistan as the President of the Conference on the results of her consultations.
Ambassador Tehmina Janjua of Pakistan, President of the Conference, said she had announced at the…
5 years 4 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HOLDS FIRST MEETING UNDER THE PRESIDENCY OF PAKISTAN
22 March 2016
Press Release
The Conference on Disarmament this morning held its first plenary meeting under the Presidency of Pakistan.
Ambassador Tehmina Janjua of Pakistan, incoming President of the Conference, stated that the state of play in the Conference was a reflection of the prevailing strategic realities. The differing priorities of the Conference members had prevented the adoption of a programme of work. Pakistan would continue consultations in that regard.
The Republic of Korea said that the series of missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was a…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HOLDS ITS LAST MEETING UNDER THE PRESIDENCY OF NORWAY
17 March 2016
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this morning held its last meeting under the Presidency of Norway. Several delegations took the floor to praise the efforts by Norway to try to find a way to break the long-lasting deadlock of the Conference and to express dismay that no progress had been achieved.
Ambassador Steffen Kongstad of Norway, outgoing President of the Conference, assessed that the programme of work was not ready to be adopted by the Conference. After extensive consultations, it was not possible to propose a programme of work which would secure consensus…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT DISCUSSES PROPOSALS ON A DRAFT PROGRAMME OF WORK
15 March 2016
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this morning discussed merits of the four proposals on a draft programme of work, which had been put forward by the United States, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and the Russian Federation.
Algeria pleaded with nuclear weapons States to uphold their commitments towards the elimination of their nuclear arsenals. The Nigerian proposal for the programme of work was seen as a good starting point for consensus-based consultations. Canada believed that working on a separate treaty on chemical terrorism within the Conference could be unnecessarily…
5 years 5 months ago
BAHRAIN JOINS THE CONVENTION ON CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS
14 March 2016
Press Release
On 11 March 2016, Bahrain joined the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons, Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons and Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War. Bahrain is now the 122nd State Party to the CCW.
Ambassador Tehmina Janjua of Pakistan, President-designate of the Convention’s Fifth Review Conference, welcomed Bahrain to the CCW. She added that Bahrain has demonstrated its commitment to international humanitarian law by joining the CCW, and hoped for the early universalization of the Convention.
The purpose of the…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT OBSERVES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, AND DISCUSSES PROPOSED DRAFT PROGRAMMES OF WORK
08 March 2016
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament held a public plenary session this morning, in which it observed International Women’s Day and heard from a number of delegations on proposed draft programmes of work and the adoption of the Security Council resolution 2270.
Ambassador Steffen Kongstad of Norway, President of the Conference, stated that the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was “Planet 50-50”, with the goal of achieving gender equality by 2030.
The Russian Federation said that its initiative on the convention for the…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT CONCLUDES HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT
02 March 2016
Meeting Summaries
Hears from Dignitaries from Colombia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Venezuela, Japan, New Zealand, Italy and Spain
The Conference on Disarmament this morning concluded the High-Level Segment of its 2016 session after hearing statements by dignitaries from Colombia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Venezuela, Japan, New Zealand, Italy and Spain.
Maria Angela Holguin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, said that the Government, the guerrillas and civil society organizations were currently working side by side on clearing two rural areas of anti-personnel mines.…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT CONTINUES HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT; HEARS FROM FINLAND, NORWAY, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, GREECE AND CUBA
01 March 2016
Press Release
The Conference on Disarmament continued its High-Level Segment this morning, hearing statements by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of Finland, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, and the General Director of the Division on Multilateral Affairs and International Law at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba.
Lenita Toivakka, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of Finland, stated…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT OPENS HIGH LEVEL SEGMENT
29 February 2016
Meeting Summaries
Conference Hears Statements from Foreign Ministers of Slovakia, the Netherlands and Argentina
The Conference on Disarmament opened its High-Level Segment today, hearing statements by the Foreign ministers of Slovakia, the Netherlands and Argentina.
Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, strongly rejected the provocative nuclear test by “North Korea” and called on it to abandon its nuclear weapon and missile programmes. He stressed that Slovakia supported an immediate start of negotiations of a treaty banning the production of…
5 years 5 months ago
CONFERENCE DISCUSSES PROPOSAL BY THE UNITED KINGDOM TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP AND AN ASSOCIATED PROGRAMME OF WORK
23 February 2016
Meeting Summaries
The Conference on Disarmament this morning discussed a proposal by the United Kingdom to establish a working group and an associated programme of work to identify, elaborate and make recommendations on effective measures for disarmament.
The incoming President of the Conference, Ambassador Steffen Kongstad of Norway, said that the deadlock in the Conference could be attributed to many causes, ranging from the large troubled global security environment to the small rules of procedure of…
