SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ADVISORY BOARD ON DISARMAMENT MATTERS TO MEET IN GENEVA, 16 TO 18 JULY 2003, IN FORTY-FIRST SESSION

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ADVISORY BOARD ON DISARMAMENT MATTERS TO MEET

IN GENEVA, 16 TO 18 JULY 2003, IN FORTY-FIRST SESSION

The Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters will meet for a three-day closed session in Geneva, from 16 to 18 July 2003.  Its last session was held in New York from 5 to 7 February 2003.  The Board meets twice a year.

The Board advises the Secretary-General on matters within the area of arms limitation and disarmament, including on studies and research under the auspices of the United Nations or institutions within the United Nations system.

At its forty-first session, the Board will discuss three topics:  compliance, verification, and enforcement of multilateral disarmament treaties; disarmament and human security; and rising military expenditures.

The Board serves as the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).  Located in Geneva, UNIDIR is an autonomous institution within the framework of the United Nations undertaking independent research on disarmament and international security issues.  In that capacity, the Board will review the report of the Director of UNIDIR on the activities of the Institute for the period August 2002 to July 2003 and planned activities for 2004 and beyond.

The session will be chaired by Ambassador Kostayntyn Gryschenko, current Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.  The Board is composed of a group of 22 experts, appointed by the Secretary-General on the basis of their expertise in the field of disarmament and/or the wider field of international security, taking into account the principle of equitable geographical representation.  The Director of UNIDIR participates as ex-officio member of the Board.

The Secretary-General will submit a report on the work of the Board to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session.  The latest report is contained in document A/57/335, dated 22 August 2002.

Background

The Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters was established in 1978, pursuant to paragraph 124 of the Final Document of the tenth special session of the General Assembly, and received its current mandate pursuant to General Assembly decision 54/418 of 1 December 1999.  The Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters has the following functions:  to advise the Secretary-General on matters within the area of arms limitation and disarmament, including on studies and research under the auspices of the United Nations or institutions within the United Nations system; to serve as the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR);  and to advise the Secretary-General on the implementation of the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme.

For more information, please see: http://disarmament.un.org/advisoryboard/index.html and http://www.unidir.org/.  Contact:  Xiaoyu Wang, Secretary of the Advisory Board, Department for Disarmament Affairs, tel: (212) 963-9440; e-mail: wangxy@un.org.

* *** *