2004 UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME OF FELLOWSHIPS

 

ON DISARMAMENT STARTS THIRD SEGMENT TODAY

 

The third segment of the 2004 United Nations Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament starts today at United Nations Headquarters, for a period of four weeks, with the participation of young diplomats from 29 Member States of the Organization.  [The Programme started on 30 August in Geneva.]

The New York Segment is meant primarily to expose the Fellows to the work of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) of the General Assembly.  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 be engaged in the practical exercise on the drafting and introduction of draft resolutions, as well as action taken on them in the First Committee.  They will also be attending a two-day seminar organized by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies and 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.

Diplomats from the following 29 Member States are participating in the 2004 Disarmament Fellowship Programme:  Argentina, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Senegal, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zambia.

The Geneva segment of the Programme, which was carried out from 30 August to 15 September, was primarily aimed at exposing the Fellows to multilateral negotiations undertaken by the Conference on Disarmament.  This year’s segment included a series of lectures by senior representatives of States Members of the Conference on Disarmament and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference, on issues under negotiation in the Conference and by staff members of the Geneva Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).  The Fellows also attended meetings of the Conference on Disarmament and followed a conference organized by UNIDIR.

Between 16 September and 6 October, the Fellows participated in study visits to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, 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 United Nations Disarmament Fellowship Programme was launched by the First Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament in 1978 and aims at (a) the training and specialization in the field of disarmament of national officials in Member States, particularly in the developing countries, and (b) enabling them to participate more effectively in international deliberating and negotiating forums.  Implemented by the Department for Disarmament Affairs, the Programme has trained, in the 26 years of its existence, 644 officials from 152 countries.  A large number of them are now in positions of responsibility in the field of disarmament within their own governments.  The Programme has enabled former Fellows to participate 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 3 November.  The Fellows will be awarded certificates of participation by the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Nobuyasu Abe.

For further information, please contact Jerzy Zaleski, c/o Jenny Fuchs, Department for Disarmament Affairs, Room 3150, tel.:  (212) 963 2386.

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