SECRETARY-GENERAL’S ADVISORY BOARD ON DISARMAMENT MATTERS TO MEET IN GENEVA, 30 JUNE - 2 JULY 2004, IN FORTY-THIRD SESSION

Secretary-General’s Advisory Boardon Disarmament Matters to meet

in Geneva, 30 June - 2 July 2004, in forty-third session

NEW YORK, 24 June (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- The Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters will meet for a three-day closed session in Geneva, from 30 June to 2 July 2004.  Its last session was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 4 to 6 February 2004.  The Board meets twice a year.

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

At its forty-third session, the Board will deliberate on its contribution to the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Challenges, Threats and Change, focusing on issues related to weapons of mass destruction, missiles, small arms and light weapons, and landmines.  It will also discuss the topic of export controls.

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 2003 to July 2004 and planned activities for 2005 and beyond.

The session will be chaired by Professor Harald Müller, Director of the Frankfurt Peace Research Institute in Germany.  Currently, the Board has 22 members, 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 (see list attached).  The Director of UNIDIR, Dr. Patricia Lewis, will participate 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-ninth session.  The latest report is contained in A/58/316, dated 25 August 2003.

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:  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; serve as the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR); and advise the Secretary-General on the implementation of the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme.

For more information, please visit the following Web sites:  http://disarmament.un.org/advisoryboard/index.html & http://www.unidir.org/.

Contact:  Xiaoyu Wang, Secretary of the Advisory Board, Department for Disarmament Affairs, tel.: (212) 963-9440; from 28 June to 2 July 2004, tel.: (41-22) 917-3036; e-mail: wangxy@un.org.

List of Participants

Dr. Harald MÜLLER (Chair) Director Peace Research Institute Frankfurt GERMANY	H.E. Mr. HASMY Agam Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia MALAYSIA
Mme. Mariama BAYARD GAMATIÉ Consultant on gender issues and development Former Minister of Culture and Communications of Niger NIGER	H.E. Dr. Kuniko INOGUCHI Former Permanent Representative of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament Professor, Faculty of Law, Sophia University JAPAN
H.E. Mr. Vicente BERASATEGUI Former Ambassador of Argentina to the United Kingdom ARGENTINA	Mr. Jeremy ISSACHAROFF Deputy Director-General for Strategic Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel ISRAEL
Mr. Pascal BONIFACE Director Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) France	H.E. Dr. Mahmoud KAREM Assistant Minister for Asian Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt EGYPT
H.E. Ms. Elisabet BORSIIN BONNIER Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations Office at Geneva SWEDEN	H.E. Ho-Jin LEE Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Hungary KOREA
H.E. Ms. Perla CARVALHO SOTO Ambassador of Mexico to Uruguay MEXICO	Mr. LIU Jieyi Director-General, Department of Arms Control and Disarmament Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China CHINA
Professor Michael CLARKE Director, International Policy Institute King's College London UNITED KINGDOM	H.E. Dr. Maleeha LODHI High Commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom PAKISTAN
H.E. Mr. Gelson FONSECA, Jr. Ambassador of Brazil to Chile BRAZIL	Professor U. Joy OGWU Director-General, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs NIGERIA
	H.E. Mr. Boris D. PYADYSHEV Ambassador Editor-in-Chief, International Affairs RUSSIA
Mr. Stephen G. RADEMAKER Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control of the United States of America State Department U.S.A.
Ms. Jill SINCLAIR Special Coordinator, Middle East Peace Process Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade CANADA
H.E. Ms. Kongit SINEGIORGIS Director-General for African Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ETHIOPIA
H.E. Mr. Rakesh SOOD Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of India to the United States of America INDIA
H.E. Mr. Tibor TÓTH Permanent Representative of the Republic of Hungary to the United Nations Office and OtherInternational Organizations HUNGARY
Dr. Patricia LEWIS (ex-officio member) Director, UNIDIR

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