Conference on Disarmament (CD)

CD Bulletin, March 1, 2001

By Jenni Rissanen

Summary

The 867th Conference on Disarmament (CD) plenary was chaired by Ambassador Juan Enrique Vega of Chile. This meeting was short, with only Belgium and the CD President taking the floor.

Plenary Proceedings

Ambassador Jean Lint of Belgium took the floor briefly on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Treaty). Lint said 111 countries had ratified the Convention so far, believing this was a notable step towards its universalization.

Ambassador Vega, who commenced his Presidency on February 19, briefed the CD on the status of his consultations. Vega said he had not yet completed a full round of consultations, but that so far there had been no results. He said that candidly speaking the possibilities for an agreement on the programme of work were "very thin on the ground". He would continue his consultations on the basis of the Amorim proposal (named after Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil) from August 2000.

The next plenary will be held on March 8, 2001 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

To see the speeches, please visit the website of WILPF at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/cd/thisweek/thisweekindex.html

Jenni Rissanen is the Acronym Institute's Analyst attending the CD in Geneva. For her latest, in-depth assessment of developments see 'Geneva Update' in Disarmament Diplomacy No. 53.