Egypt to Host United Nations Workshop on Implementing Security Council

Resolution 1540 (2004), in Cairo, 7 to 10 December

A regional United Nations workshop on implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) will be held from 7 to 10 December in Cairo, Egypt.

Hosted by the Government of Egypt, the workshop is organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs, with financial support from the European Union and the Governments of Norway and the United States.  Officials from the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda, as well as representatives from a number of international, regional and subregional organizations, have been invited to participate.

Consistent with the objectives of resolution 1540 (2004), the workshop aims to enhance national capacities for the management of export-control processes at a practical level, and to improve information- and experience-sharing between participating countries.  The workshop is also expected to facilitate assistance related to the resolution’s implementation.

Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1540 (2004) on 28 April 2004, obliging all States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.  Under the resolution, all States are to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials.  The resolution also affirms support for multilateral treaties aimed at eliminating or preventing their proliferation.

As a subsidiary body of the Security Council, the 1540 Committee was established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004).  States were called upon to report to it on steps they have taken or intend to take in implementation of the resolution.  On 25 April 2008, by its resolution 1810 (2008), the Council extended the Committee’s mandate until 25 April 2011, emphasizing the importance of full implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) by all States.  The Council requested the Committee to continue to organize and participate in regional and subregional outreach events promoting States’ implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).

The Cairo workshop is the fifth regional workshop organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) after the adoption of resolution 1810 (2008).  The four previous workshops were held in Brazil (November 2008) for MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market), in Qatar (March 2009) for Arab States, in Vanuatu (April-May 2009) for Pacific Island States, and in Costa Rica (September 2009) for Central American States.

For further information, please contact Gabriele Kraatz-Wadsack, tel.: 212 963 3633.

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For information media • not an official record