Disarmament Documentation
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High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly 14-16 September 2005,
Draft Outcome Document, July 22, 2005
This document has been drafted by the President of the General Assembly
Jean Ping of Gabon in preparation for the 2005 World Summit to be held
at the UN from September 14 - 16, 2005. For further information on the
summit see: http://www.acronym.org.uk/un.
Excerpts on Peace and Collective Security
For the full text go to: http://www.un.org/ga/president/59/draft_outcome.htm
DRAFT OUTCOME DOCUMENT
III. Peace and collective security
44. We recognize that we are facing a whole range of threats, including
armed conflicts between and within States, the spread of nuclear, biological
and chemical weapons, terrorism and organized crime, poverty and the rapid
spread of highly infectious diseases and severe environmental degradation
that require our urgent, collective and more determined response.
45. We recognize that, in accordance with the United Nations Charter,
addressing these threats requires a comprehensive approach and cooperation
among all principal organs of the United Nations within their respective
competence.
46. We acknowledge that we are living in an interdependent and global
world and that today’s threats recognize no national boundaries, are interlinked
and must be tackled at the global, regional and national levels.
47. We therefore reaffirm our commitment to implement a security consensus
based on the recognition that many threats are interlinked, that development,
security and human rights are mutually reinforcing, that no State can
best protect itself by acting entirely alone and that all States need
an effective, equitable and efficient collective security system, in accordance
with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter.
48. We resolve to take concerted action, through such a system of collective
security, based on the United Nations Charter and respect for international
law, so as to prevent, mitigate and remove threats to international peace
and security, respond effectively to natural disasters, ensure economic
development and the full enjoyment of human rights for all States and
peoples.
Protecting children in armed conflicts
49. We reaffirm our commitment to promote and protect the right and welfare
of children in armed conflicts. We call upon Sates, as appropriate, to
become a party and implement the optional protocol to the Convention on
the rights of the child on the participation of children in armed conflicts
and to take effective measures to prevent the recruitment and use of children
by armed forces and groups and to prohibit and criminalize such practices.
50. We also reaffirm our commitment to ensure that children in armed conflicts
receive timely and effective humanitarian assistance, including education,
and to take effective measures for their rehabilitation and reintegration
into society.
Pacific settlement of disputes
51. We call upon States to refrain from all threats and uses of force
contrary to the Charter, and to settle their disputes by peaceful means
in accordance with Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter , including,
when appropriate, by the most effective use of the International Court
of Justice. All States shall also act in accordance with the Declaration
on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation
among States in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
52. We stress the importance of conflict prevention in accordance with
the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter and solemnly
renew our commitment to promote a culture of prevention as a means of
effectively addressing the interconnected security and development challenges
faced by peoples throughout the world, as well as to strengthen the capacity
of the United Nations for conflict prevention and to ensure that conflict
prevention is a centerpiece of effective multilateralism and United Nations
reform.
53. We further stress the importance of a coherent and comprehensive approach
to the prevention of armed conflicts and dispute settlements and the need
for the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social
Council and the Secretary-General to coordinate their activities within
their respective Charter mandates.
54. Recognizing the important role of the Secretary-General’s good offices,
including the mediation of disputes, we support the Secretary-General’s
efforts to strengthen his capacity in this area.
Women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts
55. We stress the important role of women in the prevention and resolution
of conflicts and in peacebuilding. We also underline the importance of
the integration of gender perspective and women’s equal participation
and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and
security, as well as the need to increase their role in decision-making
at all levels. We strongly condemn all violations of human rights of women
and girls in situations of armed conflicts and the use of sexual exploitations,
and violence and abuse, and commit to elaborating and implementing strategies
to prevent and report on gender-base violence.
Peacekeeping
56. Recognizing that peacekeeping plays a vital role in helping parties
to conflict end hostilities, noting improvements made in recent years
to United Nations peacekeeping and stressing the need to mount operations
with adequate capacity to counter hostilities and fulfill effectively
their mandates, we urge further consideration of the proposal for the
establishment of a strategic military reserve capacity to reinforce UN
peacekeeping missions in times of crises and the creation of a standing
capacity for rapid deployment of United Nations civilian police in peacekeeping.
57. Recognizing the vital contribution to peace and security being made
by regional organizations and the importance of forging predictable partnerships
between the United Nations and regional organizations, and noting in particular,
given the special needs of Africa, the importance of a strong African
Union, we agree to:
- Support the efforts of the European Union and other regional entities
to develop standby capacities
- Develop and implement a 10-year plan for capacity-building with the
African Union
58. We insist on the highest standards of behavior from all personnel
deployed in peacekeeping operations, and we urge the full and vigorous
implementation of the Secretary-General´s zero tolerance policy regarding
sexual exploitation and abuse in all UN activities. We commit to ensure
that there will be no impunity for those who have committed crimes, and
will undertake to institute appropriate disciplinary action in cases where
an individual has been found to have committed wrongdoing.
Peacebuilding
59. Emphasizing the need for a coordinated, coherent, comprehensive and
integrated approach to conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding
with a view to achieving sustainable peace, and recognizing the need for
a dedicated institutional mechanism to address the special need of countries
emerging from conflicts towards recovering, reintegration and development,
and recognizing further the vital role of the United Nations in this regard,
we hereby establish a Peacebuilding Commission as an intergovernmental
advisory body to assist and mobilize support to countries emerging from
conflict.
60. Its main purpose is to bring together all relevant actors to marshal
resources and advise on and propose comprehensive strategies for peacebuilding
and post-conflict recovery. To that end, it will provide necessary information
in the immediate aftermath of war and focus attention on development and
institution-building efforts necessary for recovery as well as provide
recommendation and information to improve coordination of all stakeholders
in and outside the United Nations, develop best practices, help to ensure
predictable financing for early recovery activities and extend the period
of attention by the international community to post-conflict recovery.
61. The Peacebuilding Commission will consider any matter brought before
it by the Security Council. Any Member State of the United Nations in
an exceptionally difficult situation on the verge of relapsing into conflict
should be able to request through ECOSOC the advice of the Peacebuilding
Commission, if the Security Council is not seized of the situation in
question. The Peacebuilding Commission’s Organizational Committee should
consider the relevance of the request.
62. The Peacebuilding Commission should make the outcome of its discussions
available to all relevant bodies and actors of the United Nations including
the international financial institutions.
63. The Peacebuilding Commission should provide advice on Peacebuilding
strategies for countries emerging from conflict to such bodies as are
actively seized of the issue, in accordance with the Charter. In the initial
stages of conflict recovery, and for as long as the Security Council is
actively seized with the situation, the Peacebuilding Commission should
provide advice to that body. Thereafter, the Peacebuilding Commission
should provide advice to the ECOSOC.
64. The Peacebuilding Commission shall submit an annual report to the
General Assembly. 65. The composition of the PBC will vary according to
the case at hand, and will include:
- Members of an organizational committee responsible for developing
its procedures and for organizational matters, which should be comprised
of:
- The five permanent members of the Security Council;
- Five members of the Economic and Social Council, to be selected
by ECOSOC on an annual basis;
- The five top contributors, assessed (to the United Nations regular
budget) and voluntary (to the United Nations’ funds, programmes
and agencies) to be determined annually on the basis of a list to
be provided by the SG;
- The five top troop contributors to the United Nations, to be determined
annually on the basis of a list to be provided by the SG;
- Members would be selected in the order indicated above. There
will be no double representation of states. Attention will be paid
to geographical representation.
- Additional members, invited to participate when the PBC discusses
a country-specific matter, namely:
- national authorities of the country under consideration, as appropriate;
- countries in the region as well as relevant regional and sub-regional
organizations;
- the major financial and troop contributors involved in the recovery
effort;
- the senior UN representative in the field, and other relevant
UN-representatives;
- regional financial institutions as may be relevant;
- other parties directly relevant for the country under consideration.
66. Representatives from the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund should be invited to participate in all meetings of the Peacebuilding
Commission in a manner suitable to their governing arrangements, as well
as a representative from the Secretary-General.
67. We request the Secretary-General to establish a multi-year standing
fund for post-conflict peacebuilding, funded by voluntary contributions,
and taking due account of existing instruments.
68. We request the Secretary-General to establish within the Secretariat
and within existing resources a small Peacebuilding Support Office to
assist and support the PBC.
69. We request the President of the General Assembly, assisted by the
Secretary-General, to conduct consultations with Member States in order
to develop the necessary modalities for the effective operation of the
Peacebuilding Commission including its rules of procedure, financial arrangements
for its functioning, and selection of the Chairs, so that the body can
begin operations no later than 31 December 2005.
70. The arrangements set out above will be kept under review, with a view
to ensuring they are appropriate to delivering the agreed functions of
the PBC. Future proposals to change the arrangements, hereby agreed, should
be forwarded jointly by the Security Council and the ECOSOC for approval
by the General Assembly.
Sanctions
71. We agree that sanctions remain an important tool under the United
Nations Charter in our efforts to maintain international peace and security
without recourse to the use of force, and resolve to ensure that sanctions
are carefully targeted in support of clear objectives, subject to time
limits, where appropriate, and are implemented and monitored effectively
with clear benchmarks and accountability, to comply with sanctions established
by the Security Council, and to ensure that sanctions are implemented
in ways that mitigate the adverse consequences, including socio-economic
and humanitarian, for populations and third States.
72. We call upon the Security Council, with the support of the Secretary-General,
to improve its monitoring of the implementation and effects of sanctions,
to ensure that sanctions are implemented in an accountable manner and
to review regularly the results of such monitoring, and to develop a mechanism
to address special economic problems arising from carrying out sanctions,
in accordance with the United Nations Charter. We also call upon the Security
Council and the Secretary-General to ensure that fair and transparent
procedures, in accordance with international standards of due process,
exist for placing individuals and entities on sanctions lists and for
removing them, as well as for granting humanitarian exemptions.
73. We agree to support efforts through United Nations agencies to strengthen
State capacity to implement sanctions provisions.
Use of force
74. We reiterate our commitment to refrain from the threats or use of
force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.
We reaffirm that one of the Purposes and Principles guiding the United
Nations is to maintain international peace and security, and to that end
to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of
threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or
other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and
in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment
or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead
to a breach of the peace.
75. We also reaffirm that the relevant provisions of the Charter of the
United Nations regarding the use of force are sufficient to address the
full range of security threats and agree that the use of force should
be considered as an instrument of last resort. We further reaffirm the
authority of the Security Council to take action to maintain and restore
international peace and security, in accordance with the pertinent provisions
of the Charter.
76. We recognize the need to continue discussing principles for the use
of force, as identified by the Secretary-General.
Disarmament and non-proliferation
77. We appeal to all States to pursue and intensify negotiations with
a view to advancing disarmament and strengthening the international non-proliferation
regime.
78. We urge all States to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological
and Toxin Weapons Convention and we pledge to comply fully with all the
articles of those conventions, in order to strengthen the multilateral
framework for non-proliferation and disarmament and to achieve full adherence
to these instruments.
79. We reiterate our firm commitment to the NPT and its three pillars:
disarmament, non-proliferation, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
We look forward to strengthening the NPT’s implementation, including through
future Review Conferences.
80. We resolve to:
- Appeal to all States to take action, in a multilateral framework,
to prevent and eliminate the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and their means of delivery
- Also appeal to the nuclear weapon States to take concrete steps towards
nuclear disarmament with the objective of eliminating all such weapons,
including through the implementation of article VI of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty
- Maintain a moratorium on nuclear test explosions pending the entry
into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and call upon
all States to become a party to the Treaty
- Strengthen verification of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons by concluding the Model Additional Protocol, the standard
for compliance, and to conclude such protocol without delay; and call
for universal accession to the comprehensive safeguards agreements,
as provided for in Article III of the NPT, and to additional protocols,
and recognize that such instruments enable the IAEA to verify the peaceful
use of nuclear energy, thus preventing nuclear proliferation
- Support and continue to work towards the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free
zones, created by means of arrangements freely arrived at by consensus
among the States of the region concerned, in order to reinforce regional
peace and coexistence, prevent proliferation and advance disarmament
- Call upon the nuclear weapons States to reaffirm their commitment
to Negative Security Assurances
- Strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention through continued
multilateral and national efforts to improve its verification and implementation,
and encourage all States Parties to submit informations on confidence-building
measures as required by the Review Conference of the BTWC
- Complete the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles consistent
with the Chemical Weapons Convention in a timely and effective manner
- Prevent non-State actors from gaining access to nuclear, chemical
and biological weapons, related technology and materials as well as
their means of delivery, including by strengthening relevant national
control measures and by complying with Security Council resolution 1540
(2004)
- Promote timely agreement to prevent the spread of uranium enrichment
and plutonium separation technologies and facilities that respect fully
the right to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy as set out in the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, including alternatives
such as the provision of guaranteed nuclear fuel supplies
- Urge the Conference on Disarmament to agree on a programme of work
which includes the commencement, without delay, of negotiations on a
fissile material cut-off treaty
- Encourage States Parties to the Convention on the Physical Protection
of Nuclear Material to seek early ratification of the amendment adopted
on 8 July 2005, and we encourage those States that have not yet done
so to promptly accede to the Convention on Physical Protection and Nuclear
Material and to ratify its amendment
- Develop effective multilaterally negotiated measures to prevent an
arms race in outer space
- Explore effective measures to prevent and combat the proliferation
of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related technology and
materials and rockets and shoulder-fired missiles, as well as to ban
their transfer to non-State actors, including by implementing effective
national export controls
- Urge States involved in the transport of radioactive materials by
sea through SIDS regions to continue to engage in dialogue with SIDS
and other coastal States to address their concerns, particularly those
related to the further development and strengthening, within the appropriate
fora of international regulatory regimes to enhance safety, disclosure,
viability, security and compensation in relation to such transport
81. We agree to adopt and implement international instruments to regulate
the marking, tracing, illicit brokering and transfer of small arms and
light weapons.
82. We agree to ensure the effective monitoring and enforcement of United
Nations arms embargos.
83. We urge States parties to fully implement their obligations under
the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and Amended Protocol II to the
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and we encourage those States
that have not yet done to promptly accede to the Convention. We also call
upon States in a position to do so to provide greater technical assistance
to mine-affected States.
84. We invite all States to take and implement confidence-building and
disarmament measures, with a view to promoting and strengthening regional
and international security environment.
Terrorism
85. We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,
as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace
and security. We welcome the Secretary-General’s counter-terrorism strategy
and will consider it in the General Assembly with a view to adopting it.
We affirm that the targeting and deliberate killing of civilians and non-
combatants cannot be justified or legitimized by any cause or grievance,
and we declare that any action intended to cause death or serious bodily
harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such an act,
by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population or to compel a
Government or an international organization to carry out or to abstain
from any act cannot be justified on any grounds and constitutes an act
of terrorism.
86. We resolve to conclude a comprehensive convention on international
terrorism, including a legal definition of terrorism, during the sixtieth
session of the General Assembly.
87. We recognize that international cooperation to fight terrorism should
be conducted in conformity with international law, including the United
Nations Charter and relevant international conventions and protocols.
States should adhere to the principles of good governance, respect for
human rights, and the rule of law in the fight against terrorism.
88. We acknowledge the important role played by the United Nations in
combating terrorism and also stress the vital contribution of regional
and bilateral cooperation, particularly at the practical level of law
enforcement cooperation and technical exchange.
89. We urge the international community, including the United Nations
to assist States in building regional and national capacity to fight terrorism.
We further invite the Secretary-General to strengthen continuously, in
consultation with the General Assembly and the Security Council, the capacities
of the United Nations, its relevant funds, programmes and specialized
and related agencies, to assist States in these endeavours.
90. We commit to assist victims of terrorism around the world and to provide
them and their families with support to cope with their loss and their
grief.
91. We call on the Security Council to consider ways to strengthen the
verification, monitoring and enforcement by the Council in its role in
counter-terrorism, and streamline its counter-terrorism subsidiary bodies,
including by consolidating States’ reporting requirements.
92. We support the early entry into force of the International Convention
for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, and strongly encourage
States which have not yet become a party to it, do so and to accede to
the 12 other international conventions and protocols against terrorism
without further delay and fully implement them.
Transnational crime
93. We express our grave concern at the negative effects on development,
peace and security and human rights posed by transnational crime, including
smuggling and trafficking of human beings, narcotic drugs, and small arms
and light weapons, and at the increasing vulnerability of States to such
crime. We reaffirm the need to work collectively to combat transnational
crime.
94. We recognize that trafficking in persons continues to pose a serious
challenge to humanity and requires a concerted international response.
To this end, we urge all States to devise, enforce, and strengthen effective
measures to combat and eliminate all forms of trafficking in persons.
95. We urge all States which have not yet done so to accede to the relevant
international conventions on organized crime and corruption and to implement
them effectively, including by incorporating the provisions of those conventions
into national legislation and by strengthening criminal justice systems.
96. We decide to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime to provide assistance to Member States in those tasks
upon request.
Source: The United Nations, http://www.un.org.
© 2005 The Acronym Institute.
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