Disarmament Commission

2009 Organizational Session

290^th Meeting (AM)

Disarmament commission holds organizational session

 

Meeting in a brief organizational session today, the United Nations Disarmament Commission took note of its provisional agenda for its 2009 substantive session, scheduled for 13 April to 1 May, and decided to postpone the agenda’s formal adoption until after it had agreed on the substantive items to be discussed during the Commission’s next three-year cycle.

The Commission decided to carry on further consultations on two outstanding substantive items and resume its unfinished organizational business at a later date.

It also reviewed resolution A/63/83 entitled “Report of the Disarmament Commission” adopted by the General Assembly on 2 December, which recommended that the Commission include in the agenda of its 2008 substantive session elements of a draft declaration of the 2010s as a Fourth Disarmament Decade and that the Commission intensify consultations to reach agreement on remaining agenda items.

The Commission elected Andrzej Towpik ( Poland) to chair its 2009 session.  Upon assuming his new post, Mr. Towpik lamented the Commission’s inability to overcome a few remaining obstacles to successfully conclude the Commission’s work last year.  The Commission had not been able to reach consensus on two items related to disarmament and non-proliferation in 2008, but it had come close to an agreement after three years of deliberation.  The 2009 international disarmament calendar had several important events.  The present international climate called for urgent measures and allowed for concrete steps in disarmament.

The inability of the Conference on Disarmament and the United Nations Disarmament Commission to yield tangible results had made it more urgent for the international community to reform and revitalize its disarmament machinery, in order to adequately respond and react to emerging threats to global peace and security, he said.  The emergence of new types of security threats required urgent attention and there were great expectations among all stakeholders to address those concerns.  He expressed hope that those expectations would positively influence the Commission’s work in 2009.

Piet de Klerk ( Netherlands) was elected Rapporteur for the 2009 substantive session.  Ogtay Ismayil-Zada ( Azerbaijan) was elected Vice-Chairman of the Commission.  Consultations were continuing for the election of the remaining vice‑chairpersons.

Iraq’s representative said that on 13 January his country had submitted its ratification to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention).

The representatives of Italy, Estonia, Czech Republic (on behalf of the European Union), Indonesia (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement) and Pakistan also spoke during the meeting.

The next meeting of the Disarmament Commission will take place at a time and date to be announced.

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For information media • not an official record