Kazakhstan to Host Workshop on Implementing Security Council

 

Resolution 1540 (2004) in Astana, 27 to 29 September

 

NEW YORK, 26 September (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — A regional workshop on implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) will be held from 27 to 29 September in Astana, Kazakhstan.  Officials from Central Asian States (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), as well as representatives from several international, regional and subregional organizations have been invited to participate in the workshop.  Hosted by the Government of Kazakhstan, the workshop is co-organized by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Conflict Prevention Centre of the Secretariat of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and with financial support from the Governments of Norway and the United States. 

Consistent with the objectives of resolution 1540 (2004), the workshop aims to enhance national border and export control capacities, and to improve information- and experience-sharing between the 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 (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.  Resolution 1540 (2004) established a Committee of the Security Council, as its subsidiary body, to report to the Council on the implementation of the resolution.  On 20 April 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1977 (2011), which extended the Committee’s mandate until 2021.

The workshop in Astana is the eighth regional workshop organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) since 2008.  The seven 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; in Croatia (June 2010) for South-East European States; and in Viet Nam (September-October 2010) for South-East Asian States.

For further information, contact Gabriele Kraatz-Wadsack, tel: +1 212 963 3633.

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For information media • not an official record