Sixty-fourth General Assembly

First Committee

1^st Meeting (PM)

Disarmament Committee Prepares for Start of General Debate on Monday, 5 October,

with Adoption of Agenda, Work Programme, in Brief Organizational Meeting

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), in a brief organizational meeting today, adopted its agenda and programme of work for the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly.

As in past years, the work programme is split into three phases, with the first phase, from 5 to 12 October, a general debate on all disarmament and international security agenda items.  These items include nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, promoting transparency in armaments, averting an arms race in outer space, preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and staunching the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

The second phase, from 13 to 26 October, will be thematic discussions on all agenda items, along with the introduction and consideration of draft resolutions and decisions.  The final phase, lasting from 27 October to 3 November, will involve action on all draft texts.

The Committee also decided to consider, in mid-2010, the election of officers of the main committees for the General Assembly’s sixty-fifth session.

Committee Vice-Chairman Hilario G. Davide, Jr. (Philippines) presided over today’s meeting and welcomed the new Bureau, whose other members are Chairman José Luis Cancela Gómez (Uruguay), Vice-Chairpersons Hossam Aly (Egypt) and Florian Laudi (Germany), and Rapporteur Tetyana Pokhval’ona (Ukraine).

The representatives of Indonesia (in his national capacity and again on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement) and Nigeria spoke.

The First Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 5 October, to begin its general debate.

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For information media • not an official record