The inability of the disarmament machinery to function had the “insidious effect” of stopping people from listening to each other, heard members of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) during its thematic debate on the United Nations disarmament machinery.
The first place to look to understand insufficient progress in disarmament was at the lack of harmony between domestic policies and international responsibilities, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today as it concluded its general debate and began its thematic discussion on disarmament machinery.
Speakers in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) painted a bleak picture of the international response to the nuclear threat, as they discussed the unprecedented state of the global security environment on the penultimate day of that Committee’s general debate.
The development of new technologies of warfare, including autonomous weapons or ”killer robots” and cyberwarfare, raised fundamental concerns about the acceptability of allowing machines to independently take life-and-death decisions, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today.
There was “no good purpose for bad weapons”, heard the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today as a cross-section of non-nuclear-armed States called for greater global disarmament efforts.
The difficult and complex conventional arms control challenge, which delegates hoped would be mitigated with the coming entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty, dominated debate in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today.
To win the battle to eliminate nuclear weapons, the international community first needed to fight long and hard at the conceptual level and win the “battle of ideas”, the Disarmament Committee heard today as it continued its general debate.
Although nuclear weapons had not been engaged since 1945, the world “cannot rely on luck indefinitely”, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) was urged today at the start of its session to move beyond reaffirming long-term goals to concrete actions, as the absence of a results-based approach hindered the United Nations disarmament machinery and, indeed, the work of the Organization itself.
Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) on 18 June.
