UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS MICHAEL MØLLER AS ACTING SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Michael Møller, Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, as Acting Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament.

Mr. Møller was appointed Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva on 5 November 2013.

The Conference on Disarmament was established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. The terms of reference of the Conference on Disarmament include practically all multilateral arms control and disarmament problems. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva is usually the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament.

According to its rules of procedure, at the request of the Conference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, following consultations with the Conference, appoints the Secretary-General of the Conference, who also acts as his personal representative, to assist the Conference and its President in organizing the business and timetables of the Conference. Under the authority of the Conference and its President, the Secretary-General assists in the preparation of both the provisional agenda of the Conference and the first draft of the reports of the Conference to the General Assembly of the United Nations. At the request of the Conference, the Secretary-General also provides professional assistance to the Conference by preparing background papers and bibliographies on issues which are the subject of negotiations in the Conference as well as by compiling data and information relevant to the conduct of negotiations. The Secretary-General also performs such other functions as are entrusted to him by these rules or by the Conference.

The Conference on Disarmament will open its 2014 session on Monday, 20 January and will hold its first public plenary on Tuesday, 21 January.


For use of the information media; not an official record

DG14/001E