Viet Nam to Host United Nations Workshop on Implementing Security Council

 

Resolution 1540 (2004), in Hanoi, 28 September-1 October

 

NEW YORK, 27 September (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — A regional United Nations workshop on implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) will be held from 28 September to 1 October 2010 in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Hosted by the Government of Viet Nam, the workshop is organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs with financial support from the European Union and the Governments of New Zealand, Norway and the United States.  Officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, 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 technical assistance related to the resolution’s implementation.

Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1540 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 affirms support for multilateral treaties aimed at eliminating or preventing their proliferation.  Resolution 1540 (2004) also established a Committee of the Security Council, as its subsidiary body, to report to the Council on the implementation of the resolution.

On 25 April 2008, by its resolution 1810 (2008), the Council requested the 1540 Committee to continue to organize and participate in regional and subregional outreach events promoting States’ implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).

The workshop in Hanoi is the seventh regional workshop organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) since 2008.  The six previous workshops were held in Brazil (November 2008) for MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) States, in Qatar (March 2009) for Arab States, in Vanuatu (April-May 2009) for Pacific Island States, in Costa Rica (September 2009) for Central American States, in Egypt (December 2009) for African States and in Croatia (June 2010) for Southeast European States.

For further information, please contact Gabriele Kraatz-Wadsack at +1 212 963 3633.

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For information media • not an official record