Grenada Hosts Visit by Security Council’s 1540 Committee, 29-31 July

 

NEW YORK, 31 July (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — A delegation of the Security Council’s 1540 Committee’s Working Group on Monitoring and National Implementation wrapped up its three-day visit to Grenada today, having been invited by the Government.

María Soledad Urruela Arenales from the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations and current Coordinator of the 1540 Committee’s Working Group led the delegation, which included Khalil Ur Rahman Hashmi from the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations and member of the 1540 Committee, as well as experts supporting the Committee’s work.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretariat, which has been facilitating the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) in the region through its 1540 Implementation Coordinator, also had participated in the visit, the objectives of which had included raising awareness and sharing information on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), identifying possible assistance needs and any future steps to be undertaken by Grenada in support of implementation.

The delegation had met in St. George’s with Nickolas Steele, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Business of Grenada, and it had held working sessions with various national stakeholders involved in implementation of the resolution, including the Ministries of National Security, Health and Foreign Affairs and International Business.  It had also visited the Port of St. George’s.

Resolution 1540 (2004) was adopted unanimously by the Security Council, under the United Nations Charter’s Chapter VII, on 28 April 2004.  It obliged all States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors attempting to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.  The resolution also requires all States to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of those weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials.

The 1540 Committee, a subsidiary body of the Council, reports to it on implementation of the resolution.  On 20 April 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1977 (2011), by which it extended the Committee’s mandate until 2021.

For additional information about the 1540 Committee, please visit the website http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record