UN DISARMAMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME, WITH YOUNG DIPLOMATS FROM 29 COUNTRIES, BEGINS 4-WEEK SEGMENT IN NEW YORK

UN DISARMAMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME, WITH YOUNG DIPLOMATS

FROM 29 COUNTRIES, BEGINS 4-WEEK SEGMENT IN NEW YORK

The third segment of the 2002 Disarmament Fellowship Programme begins today at United Nations Headquarters.  It will last four weeks.

Taking part in the programme are 29 young diplomats from the following Member States:  Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Ethiopia, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Palau, Panama, Republic of Korea, Sao Tomé and Principe, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The 2002 programme began in Geneva on 2 September.  Late, between

23 September and 11 October, the Fellows participated in study visits to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague and to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna.  They also visited Germany and Japan, at the invitation of the respective Governments.

The New York segment of the programme is primarily to expose the Fellows to the work of the Disarmament and International Security Committee of the General Assembly (First Committee).  The Fellows will be briefed by members of delegations to the First Committee and United Nations officials, including the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, on items on the agenda of the Committee, and will attend meetings of the Committee.  In addition, the Fellows will gain practical experience by witnessing first-hand how First Committee resolutions are drafted and introduced, as well as how the Committee takes action on the draft resolutions.  They will also be finalizing individual research papers that they are required to prepare in the course of the programme, on a topic of their choice, relating to disarmament and international security.

The Geneva segment of the programme, which was carried out from 2 to

20 September, was primarily aimed at exposing the Fellows to multilateral negotiations undertaken by the Conference on Disarmament.  The segment included a cycle of lectures by senior representatives of States Members of the Conference on Disarmament and its Deputy-Secretary-General, on issues under negotiation in the Conference, and also by staff members of the Geneva branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.  The Fellows also attended meetings of the Conference on Disarmament, and followed

the proceedings of the Fourth Meeting of the States Parties to the Mine-Ban Convention.

The United Nations Disarmament Fellowship Programme was launched by the first special session of the General Assembly, Devoted to Disarmament, in 1978.  Its aims are the training and specialization in the field of disarmament of national officials in Member States, particularly in the developing countries, and also enabling them to participate more effectively in international deliberating and negotiating forums.  Implemented by the Department for Disarmament Affairs, the programme has, in the 24 years of its existence, trained some 600 officials from nearly 150 countries.  Many of the participants are now in positions of responsibility in the field of disarmament within their own Governments.  The programme has enabled former Fellows to take part more effectively in regional and global efforts in the field of disarmament and, by creating an informal network spanning the various regions of the world, to work cooperatively and constructively in the pursuance of disarmament and arms limitation goals.

The programme will conclude at United Nations Headquarters on 6 November.  The Fellows will be awarded certificates of participation by the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala.

For further information, please contact Jerzy Zaleski, c/o Pamela Haig, Department for Disarmament Affairs, Room 3150 E, tel. (212) 963-2389.

* *** *