DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSES AGENDA REFORM
Press Release
GA/DIS/3118
DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSES AGENDA REFORM
19981022 The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met this afternoon to consider the rationalization of its work and reform of its agenda. The discussion focused on the recent General Assembly decision by which the Committee would conclude its substantive work within five weeks, if possible.In order to implement that decision, the Committee had decided, at its second meeting of the current session, to conduct its work in three phases, rather than four, by merging its thematic debate with the introduction and consideration of draft resolutions. Thus, the Committee's work would proceed as follows: general debate; thematic discussion of all disarmament and international security items and introduction of draft resolutions; and action on all draft resolutions.
Also this afternoon, the Committee Chairman circulated a proposal, in the form of a non-paper, on a possible way to rearrange the Committee's agenda, beginning with its fifty-fourth session, for which he sought comments by the regional groups.
Following a discussion on the deadline for the submission of drafts, the Chairman extended the deadline from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, 23 October. He said that on an exceptional basis, the submission of up to 10 draft resolutions could be further postponed until Monday, 26 October, which should be identified by the delegations at the start of the Committee meeting on Friday afternoon.
With regard to reform on the Committee's work, the representative of Austria, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that he was heartened by the Secretary-General's opening statement to the Committee, in which he called for it to "update, streamline and revitalize" its work. The Union, however, did not want reform for reform's sake. Rather, it sought "user friendly" reforms that would make the Committee's work more useful and more comprehensible to a wider audience.
The representative of Egypt, along with a number of other representatives, cautioned that the proposed rearrangement of agenda items could not result in a merging of those items, since items could not be merged
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or deleted without the agreement of the States that had inscribed them. That was a very sensitive issue which involved the sovereign right of States to bring their issues before the General Assembly. The Chairman reiterated that the proposal was simply a rearrangement of the agenda.
On a point of order this afternoon, the representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea sought clarification on the General Assembly's Rules of Procedure concerning the exercise of the right of reply. He said it was his understanding that Member States could exercise their right of reply twice per agenda item and not twice per meeting as the Chairman had ruled yesterday. In response, the Chairman, while encouraging consultations to clarify that ruling, said that since the Committee dealt with all agenda items during its general debate, it was extremely difficult to determine whether a right of reply was being exercised on one or several agenda items. Under such circumstances, it was up to the Chairman to pass judgement.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Australia, India, Mexico, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Algeria and Iran.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. Friday, 23 October, to begin its thematic discussion and consideration of all disarmament and security-related draft resolutions.
Statements
THOMAS HAJNOCZI (Austria) spoke on behalf of the member States of the European Union and the associated Central and Eastern European countries -- Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, as well as Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. He said that the rationalization of the work and reform of the agenda of the Committee remained a priority for the Union. He was encouraged by the opening statement of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who called upon the Committee to "update, streamline and revitalize" its work.
The reform of the Committee's working methods and organization of work was an ongoing process geared to the changing requirements and expectations of a rapidly changing world. "We do not want reform for reform's sake", he said. "We want reforms that make our work more useful." Such reforms should also make the Committee's work more understandable to a wider public, which might otherwise not develop interest in its work.
The Committee should, therefore, aim to reorganize and reform in a manner that would make it more "user friendly", he said. Its objective should be to better organize its debates by making them more focused, result-oriented and more understandable. Last year, the Committee achieved a consensus on how to improve its work and make a more efficient use of its scarce financial and logistical resources. It also agreed to improve its method of work by merging
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its thematic debate with the introduction and consideration of resolutions. The Union looked forward to the implementation of those decisions.
Continuing, he said the current agenda of the Committee did not follow any specific logic. It was the result of successive additions and the result was both difficult to manage and difficult to comprehend. In the view of the Union, the Committee should reclassify the existing agenda items according to a simple thematic approach. It should then assign each item a place on the agenda, alongside other items dealing with the same broad subject.
Next, he added, the Committee should work its way through the agenda, rather than being forced to resort to the current complex arrangements. Such a logical reordering would facilitate a more focused discussion and also give delegations a clearer picture of each issue and its relationship to others. Such an approach should be discussed thoroughly in order to reach a solution satisfactory to all.
He said the Union believed that many items on the agenda of the Committee deserved yearly attention due to important developments and the dynamics of the international discussion. Other issues change could be debated every second or third year. Everybody should exercise restraint in putting such items on the agenda every year. The same was true of the reports of the Secretary-General. The Committee should exercise restraint in asking for countless reports, which burdened the Secretariat with additional work and sometimes contributed little to the actual work done in the Committee.
At the same time, he said the reports of the Secretariat could be of a more "synoptic nature" to give an overview of the current developments and discussions on a specific item, instead of just containing the responses of Member States on specific questions. Concluding, he said the reform, revitalization and rationalization of the Committee did not lend itself to sterile ideological debate. All should endeavour to find a common ground on which to make progress on the matter.
SONYA KOPPE (Australia) said that rationalization of the Committee's work was a priority issue and she welcomed the progress made at the Committee meeting at the resumed fifty-second session to streamline its programme. The time freed by those reforms could be utilized to consult in depth on certain issues and narrow the wide divergence of views. It was a most pressing priority to make the agenda more logical and meaningful.
She said it was time to frame the agenda so that it communicated more clearly what the Committee was doing. One way, as the European Union had suggested, was to group items according to theme. Resolutions could be considered biennially or triennially. There were too many on the Committee's agenda and many were of a routine nature that did not address the priority concerns. Other texts, moreover, were identical. She would welcome
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consultations, with a view to taking decisions on further rationalizing the work of the Committee at the fifty-fourth Assembly session.
ALDYIAN MANICKAM (India) said that the Chairman's non-paper needed to be studied very carefully. Thus, his delegation would provide detailed comments at a later date. Presently, however, two points should be made. The important agenda item concerning the review of the tenth special session of the General Assembly should appear as a separate agenda item. In addition, the two items on the role of science and technology should be considered in the context of collateral disarmament measures. It was the first time he had heard that the Bureau had taken on the responsibility of reorganizing the Committee. All members should be given the chance to comment. His delegation had not been consulted on that and would be available for consultations at any time.
ANTONIO De ICAZA (Mexico) said his delegation was grateful for the Chairman's interesting and useful paper. It was indeed necessary to rationalize the work of the Committee, and in that regard, all relevant proposals should be given careful consideration. His delegation was prepared to make constructive contributions.
LEE SEE-YOUNG (Republic of Korea) said some progress was made last year with respect to the rationalization of the work of the Committee. One notable aspect of that progress was the fact that it was now possible for the work of the Committee to fit into 30 meetings. He believed, however, that the Committee's agenda lacked logical structure. In that regard, the Committee should consider the proposal that Canada and the European Union made last year.
A special section of the agenda should be devoted to transparency and confidence-building measures, he said. Another section could be set aside for other matters related to confidence-building as they arose according to the evolution of the international security environment. Some of the Chairman's proposals presented a promising basis for progress.
At the same time, drastic changes on the agenda of the Committee should be avoided, he said. Rather, the Committee should seek a step by step approach that took account of the needs of the different Member States and of the different regional groups.
MAGED ABDELAZIZ (Egypt) said that of the many issues that could be discussed under the Committee's programme of work, the rearrangement of agenda items was an important subject that demanded further consultations among the regional groups. He understood that the proposed rearrangement was only that and not a merging of those items. Agenda items should not be merged or deleted without the consensus of States that had inscribed them. That was a very sensitive issue which involved the sovereign right of States to bring their issues before the General Assembly.
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He said that as the representative of Austria had noted, the time had come to harmonize the voting between the Committee and the Assembly. Committee members voted on resolutions presented as "L" numbers and then reports of the Committee to the Assembly presented a totally different format and reverted back to the original agenda item numbers. That had created a lot of confusion. It was time to address that issue and devise recommendations.
JEAN DU PREEZ (South Africa) said that the rearrangement of agenda items in a more logical way, as presented in the Chairman's paper, deserved further exploration, especially in view of the decision by the Assembly to reduce the duration of the Committee's session and combine a thematic debate with consideration of draft resolutions. That was a step forward, but members should proceed slowly and carefully. In terms of headings, his delegation would like to stick as close as possible to the cluster headings of last year.
In that respect, he said he supported the statement made by the representative of Egypt. Indeed, there had been a lot of confusion in his own delegation during the Assembly vote, as well as in the preparation for that vote. More time was needed to look at important issues. Those should not simply be rearranged for the sake of rearranging, but needed to be considered in a logical order. Members were not ready and had no mandate to even suggest that certain items be combined or deleted. It was up to the States that had supported those resolutions to decide. He looked forward to informal consultations on that issue.
ABDELKADER MESDOUSA (Algeria) said the task of reforming the work and of rationalizing the agenda of the Committee required a more in-depth consideration. Consistent with the views of several delegations, he felt that a lot of difficulties were created by the usually large number of resolutions presented to the Committee. The Committee should consider all possible ways of rationalizing its work in that respect. At the same time, he said it could be difficult to tell delegations that they should propose resolutions only every three years. His delegation favoured the idea of establishing clear clusters in the Committee's reform efforts.
GHOLAMHOSSEIN DEHGHANI (Iran), commented on the Chairman's proposal and reflected on the agenda item on the role of science and technology in the context of international security. He said that the subject of science and technology should not be confined to international security. It was also relevant to other parts of the Committee's agenda and he would appreciate it if the Chairman took his views into account.
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