REGIONAL MEETING ON DISARMAMENT TO BE HELD IN JAKARTA 16 - 18 FEBRUARY
Press Release
DC/2596
REGIONAL MEETING ON DISARMAMENT TO BE HELD IN JAKARTA 16 - 18 FEBRUARY
19980213 NEW YORK, 13 February (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- The Department for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, will convene the United Nations Regional Disarmament Meeting in South-East Asia from 16 to 18 February in Jakarta.The meeting, held in South-East Asia for the first time, intends to review current disarmament issues and explore a common ground for possible joint efforts by the international community to address these issues. Specifically, it will consider the role of the Conference on Disarmament in nuclear disarmament, bilateral nuclear-arms reduction and the preparatory process for the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
As for region-specific issues, the meeting will deal with nuclear- weapon-free zones, confidence-building measures in countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and bilateral efforts for reconciliation and building trust. The Jakarta meeting will also provide participants with an opportunity to search for a common approach with respect to the convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament. It will be held in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Regional Centre and the "Kathmandu process" it has initiated to facilitate a regional and subregional dialogue for the promotion of openness, transparency and confidence-building.
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.
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