Disarmament Diplomacy

2008 First Committee Resolutions

Disarmament Machinery

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63/74 (L.13)
United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Introduced by Peru on behalf of the Group of countries of Latin American and the Caribbean.

This annual resolution supports the UN Regional Centre in Lima. Recognizing the twentieth anniversary of the Regional Centre, the resolution continues to recognize and applaud the role of the Centre in promoting a large variety of arms control and educational objectives and in implementing regional and subregional initiatives. The updated preamble reflects the most recent report of the Secretary-General, which expresses concern over the possibility of a shortfall in voluntary core funding, and notes that states may seek alternative core funding. In a major break from past practice, the resolution requests that the UN provide support for the core operation of the Centre for 2010-2011, while continuing to appeal to states to increase their voluntary funding.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

The United States, on behalf of itself and the United Kingdom, and France dissociated themselves from the consensus on this resolution because of their objection to the resolution's request for funding from the UN regular budget (see L.24, L.42, L.80).

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Decision (L.22)
Convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament.

Introduced by Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Recalling decision 62/552 and resolution 62/29, this decision places an item entitled "Convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament" on the agenda of the 64th session of the General Assembly.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

Following on the failure of the second Open-Ended Working Group established by resolution 61/60 (2006) to achieve consensus on the objectives or agenda for a fourth special session, the General Assembly adopted resolution 62/69 (2007) reconvening the working group in 2008. In light of the decision to convene the organizational meeting for the third working group in January 2009, the present decision defers action on the item, pending the outcome of the group's substantive session to take place in 2009.

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63/76 (L.24)
United Nations regional centres for peace and disarmament.

This annual resolution, unchanged in recent years, reiterates the importance of UN regional activities, noting that the advancement of disarmament and security could be promoted by maintaining and revitalizing the Regional Centres for peace and disarmament located in Nepal, Peru, and Togo. It reaffirms the basic mandate of the Centres to carry out educational programmes that seek to change basic attitudes regarding peace and disarmament in support of the purpose and principles of the UN. It also appeals to states to make voluntary contributions to support the three Centres and requests the Secretary-General to provide all necessary support, within existing resources.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

Last year's controversial decision to fund the core operation of the Regional Centre in Africa continued to have implications for the First Committee. Reflecting the precedent set by resolution 62/216 on the African Centre and shortfall in voluntary contributions threatening the operations of the two other Centres, the sponsors of the annual resolutions dealing with the Regional Centres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific requested the UN provide support for their core staff and operations from its regular budget.

Despite the widespread dissatisfaction expressed in the 2007 First Committee plenary sessions by many delegations, especially from Western and industrialized states, last year's loud protests gave way to silent acquiescence of this year's developments as the First Committee and General Assembly adopted the three resolutions on each of the Regional Centres without a vote. The present outcome, with the UN to start providing core support for all three regional centres after 2010, represents a shift from the primacy of the Fifth Committee on budgetary issues.

In 2007, the United States had cast the sole vote against resolution 62/216. Five delegations abstained, all from non-African, industrialized states: Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

In the current session, the United States, on behalf of itself and the United Kingdom, and France dissociated themselves from the consensus on the resolutions pertaining to the Regional Centres in Asia and the Pacific and in Latin America and the Caribbean. The United States also dissociated itself from the vote on the Regional Centre in Africa. The three delegations reiterated their positions that funding for the centres should come from voluntary contributions only. Although the Canadian delegation joined the consensus on the three regional centre resolutions, it also spoke out against the First Committee adopting resolutions that mandated resources be allocated from the general operating budget, which is a responsibility that falls solely to the Fifth Committee (see L.13, L.42, L.80).

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63/77 (L.42)
United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific.

Introduced by Nepal.

In reflection of the relocation of the Regional Centre's headquarters from New York to Kathmandu, this annual resolution has been essentially rewritten. Most of its new provisions laud the various actors involved in supporting the operations and relocation of the centre. The preamble also expresses concern over the most recent report of the Secretary-General, which indicates that the Centre urgently needs more core funding. Following the trend set by the other Regional Centres and breaking from past practice, the resolution requests the UN provide support for the core operation of the Centre for 2010-2011, while appealing to states to continue making voluntary contributions.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

The United States, on behalf of itself and the United Kingdom, and France disassociated themselves from the consensus on this resolution due to their objection to the resolution's request for funding from the UN regular budget (see L.13, L.24, L.80).

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63/82 (L.47)
Report of the Conference on Disarmament.

Introduced by Venezuela on behalf of the six presidents of the 2008 CD.

This annual resolution, which includes only technical updates to resolution 62/55, supports the Conference on Disarmament and reaffirms its role as the "single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community". The resolution notes the increased deliberation of the Conference, including structured debates on all agenda items, the participation of experts from capitals, and the cooperation among all six Presidents of the Conference in its 2008 session. It calls on the CD to intensify consultations to reach agreement on a programme of work and urges its members to cooperate with Presidents of the CD in commencing substantive work in the 2009 session.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

The conclusion of the 2008 CD session marked its ninth consecutive year without a programme of work and its twelfth since the conclusion of its last product, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Following directly from the compromise programme of work introduced to the 2007 CD, CD/2007/L.1, in 2008 delegations rallied around an updated version contained in document CD/1840. Like its predecessor, CD/1840 would have appointed coordinators for each of the CD's substantive agenda items, specifically providing for substantive discussions on three items-nuclear disarmament and prevention of nuclear war, prevention of an arms race in outer space, and negative security assurances-as well as for negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty. Other coordinators would continue their work on these items: radiological weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament; and transparency in armaments.

During the First Committee session, a number of delegations continued to speak in favour of CD/1840, including the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, and Turkey. The delegation of Pakistan, which is believed to be the key state blocking consensus on the programme of work in the CD, said it would endorse any programme of work in the CD that treats the four core issues "in a balanced manner", suggesting it would allow negotiations to proceed on fissile materials if the CD also agreed negotiating mandates on its three other core issues-an idea not supported by many states.

A number of delegations expressed frustration over the impasse. The Norwegian delegation questioned the efficacy of the CD as the sole multilateral negotiating forum. Although not specifically referring to the stalemate in the CD, Canadian Ambassador Marius Grinius cited the adoption of the final document of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons biennial meeting by vote rather than consensus as "a precedent which the UN might wish to invoke more generally in order to advance near-universally agreed objectives".

This precedent, however, seems out of the bounds of possibility for the CD. As predetermined by the final document of the First Special Session of the General Assembly on Disarmament, rule 18 of the CD's rules of procedures explicitly states, "The Conference shall conduct its work and adopt its decisions by consensus." Rule 47 states any amendment to the rules of procedure can be made by decision of the Conference. Such a decision, however, would also have to be exercised by consensus in conformity with rule 18, thus precluding any easy procedural solution to the present deadlock.

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63/83 (L.48)
Report of the Disarmament Commission.

Introduced by the Netherlands.

This procedural resolution supports and reaffirms the importance of the UN Disarmament Commission as "the specialised, deliberative body within the United Nations multilateral disarmament machinery that allows for in-depth deliberations on specific disarmament issues, leading to the submission of concrete recommendations on those issues". The resolution recommends that the UNDC consider the item "Elements of a draft declaration of the 2010s as the fourth disarmament decade" during its 2009 substantive session, directing it to meet between 13 April and 1 May. It also requests that the UNDC intensify consultations to reach agreement on its second agenda item prior to the start of its 2009 substantive session, in accordance with decision 52/492.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

In April 2008, the UNDC concluded its three-year cycle failing to reach agreement in either of its two working groups, which had agenda items on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and on confidence-building in conventional weapons. Disagreement in the nuclear weapons working group was reported on a number of issues, including the Middle East and negative security assurances. Although it had been long believed that the conventional weapons working group would achieve consensus, the group reportedly encountered difficulties in a number of areas, including outer space, landmines, an arms trade treaty, and cluster munitions.

During the First Committee session, more than a dozen delegations expressed disappointment in the repeated failures of the UNDC. During an interactive discussion featuring the chair of the 2008 session, the German delegation questioned the further relevance of the UNDC, pointing out that many of its functions have been taken over by other processes such as government expert groups, which consider technical issues and make recommendations to the General Assembly, thus reducing the UNDC to another deliberative body.

The Non-Aligned Movement, supported by the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, lobbied for the UNDC to once again take up the agenda item, "recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons", which it considered during its 2006-2008 cycle. There was no consensus on the UNDC taking up this item again, however.

The United States again dissociated itself from the vote on this resolution.

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63/79 (L.49)
United Nations disarmament fellowship, training and advisory services.

Introduced by Nigeria.

This biennial resolution, unchanged from resolution 61/91, supports the UN disarmament fellowship, training and advisory services programme established by the General Assembly at its tenth special session. Noted by the resolution, the programme continues to train officials from UN member states on disarmament matters, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, and the Monterey Institute for International Studies. The resolution reaffirms past decisions and directs the Secretary-General to continue carrying out the programme within existing resources.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

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63/80 (L.50/Rev.1)
United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa.

Introduced by Nigeria on behalf of the Africa Group.

This annual resolution supports the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Development in Lomé, Togo. It includes minor and technical updates to controversial resolution 62/216 (2007), which recommended the UN provide funding for the Centre's core staff and operating costs from its regular budget. The current resolution reverts to language contained in past resolutions, calling on the UN to continue to provide necessary support for the Centre, which, in light of resolution 62/216, includes the provision of core funding from the regular budget. The resolution continues to recognize the role of the Centre in promoting regional confidence-building, arms limitations, security sector reform, and practical disarmament measures, as well as urging states, NGOs, and members of the African Union to make voluntary contributions to the Centre.

First Committee: without a vote
General Assembly: without a vote

The US delegation dissociated itself from the vote on this resolution, reiterating its position that funding for the centres should come from voluntary contributions and noting its opposition to resolution 62/216 (See L.13, L.24, L.42).

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