RECENT DISARMAMENT STEPS REVIEWED BY 'GROUP OF INTERESTED STATES'
Press Release
DC/2623
RECENT DISARMAMENT STEPS REVIEWED BY 'GROUP OF INTERESTED STATES'
19981218 NEW YORK, 18 December (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- The Group of Interested Member States, established last March on the basis of a United Nations General Assembly resolution to promote practical disarmament measures, held its fifth meeting on 14 December at Headquarters in New York. The meeting, attended by representatives of 20 Member States and chaired by Germany, reviewed several recent United Nations activities related to conventional arms and particularly small arms.The Group received briefings by members of the Department for Disarmament Affairs on three recent gatherings -- the subregional seminar on the training of trainers in practical disarmament measures, held in Yaoundé (Cameroon) from 27 to 31 July 1998; the workshop on "Weapons collection and integration of former combatants into civil society - the experiences of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia" held in Guatemala City from 18 to 20 November 1998; and the second meeting of the CASA (the Coordinating Action on Small Arms) mechanism held at Headquarters on 24 November 1998.
The Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, addressed the meeting, expressing his satisfaction with the progress achieved by the Group and the generous support for the initiatives launched. He introduced Ivor Fung and Pericles Gasparini Alves, the newly-appointed Directors of the Regional United Nations Centres for Peace and Disarmament in Africa and Latin America, respectively. Outlining their planned agendas, they noted that budgetary constraints would require them to devote special attention to fund-raising activities.
Walter Lindner, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Germany and chairman of the meeting, noted that two proposals received by the Group of Interested States -- the Yaoundé seminar and the Guatemala workshop -- had been successfully implemented, while a third, the weapons collection project in Albania, was still ongoing.
The Yaoundé seminar had been organized to strengthen the capacity of the Central African States to consolidate peace and security and to provide an opportunity for participants to focus on the link between disarmament, peace, security and development. Attendance at the seminar, for which the Governments of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom, had provided financial support, included representatives of other
- 2- Press Release DC/2623 18 December 1998
international organizations as well as members of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa.
The Group was also briefed on the Guatemala workshop. Luis Raúl Estévez-López of Guatemala echoed the view that the Workshop, made possible through the financial support of the Governments of Germany, Italy and Norway, had been a success.
On the ongoing Albania project, the Department of Disarmament Affairs noted that the progress achieved to date would be reported at another meeting of the Group, since the first meeting on the pilot programme for weapons in exchange for development in Gramsh District was that day being convened in Tirana. The Department would likely brief the Group of Interested States on that meeting early in January 1999.
The Group was told that the Department of Public Information (DPI) was drafting the preliminary outline of a United Nations Television documentary focusing on the humanitarian impact of small arms on civilians and particularly the illicit arms trade. The Government of Switzerland had offered approximately $40,000 towards the production costs of the half-hour film.
It was reported that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was at the initial stages of developing a mobile exhibit on small arms and children. The exhibit, initially to be developed in the English language, would be an interactive walk-through for visitors along the lines of UNICEF's landmines exhibit. It was expected to be completed by mid-June 1999; the Government of Andorra had pledged approximately $23,000 towards its production costs.
The Department of Disarmament Affairs announced that its Conventional Arms Branch had created a web page dealing with conventional arms, particularly small arms. The documents related to the Yaoundé seminar and Guatemala workshop would be posted there. [The address is: "http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/CAB/index.htm".]
* *** *