REGIONAL MEETING ON DISARMAMENT TO BE HELD IN KATHMANDU, 24-26 FEBRUARY
Press Release
DC/2575*
REGIONAL MEETING ON DISARMAMENT TO BE HELD IN KATHMANDU, 24-26 FEBRUARY
19970212 NEW YORK, 12 February (Centre for Disarmament Affairs) -- The Centre for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, will convene a regional disarmament meeting on "Nuclear Disarmament in the post-CTBT Era". It will be held in Kathmandu from 24 to 26 February.The meeting, the ninth in the series, intends to explore priorities in the field of nuclear disarmament after the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the fiftieth General Assembly session in September 1996. It will address key nuclear disarmament issues, including the entry into force of the CTBT, negotiations on the prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and the preparatory process of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference scheduled for 2000. The meeting will also focus on region- specific issues, such as openness and transparency in military matters, regional security and the illicit flow of small weapons.
Approximately 35 participants from government, academic and research institutes and non-governmental organizations, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region, are expected to attend the three-day meeting. It will be financed entirely from voluntary contributions of Member States and other interested organizations.
The Regional Centre's activities, carried out through the organization of regional meetings, have the primary objective of encouraging regional and subregional dialogue for the enhancement of openness, transparency and confidence building, as well as the promotion of disarmament and security. The dialogue, facilitated by those regional meetings, has become known as the "Kathmandu process". General Assembly resolution 51/72D reaffirmed the continued operation and further strengthening of the Regional Centre as an essential means to promote that process.
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* Press Release DC/2575 of 7 February should have been designated Press Release DCF/286.