14 March 2004

Rhianna Tyson, Project Associate

At the open session on Thursday, the Conference on Disarmament observed the annual International Women's Day, March 8. As has been the tradition since 1984, WILPF- as a member of the NGO Committee on Peace- prepared a statement to the plenary, which was read aloud by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference, Mr. Enrique Roman-Morey.

Thailand, Nigeria, Serbia and Montenegro, and the outgoing CD President from Malaysia also took the floor.

The NGO Women's Day statement urged CD Members to situate their discussions and deliberations on disarmament in a framework of human security, rather than a narrow concept of national security, the prevalence of which has gripped the world in a state of war, death and destruction throughout the
history of civilization. The full text of the statement is included below, and is also available here.

After Mr. Roman-Morey delivered the NGO statement, Norway and Ireland expressed their appreciation of the NGO intervention, and used the opportunity to reiterate their support for the recent CD decision on NGO participation in the work of the CD, which is available here.

In a seemingly immediate echo of the NGO statement, Thailand's Ambassador Satjipon demonstrated the beginnings of the conceptual shift toward a framework of human security. After his intervention on Thailand's progress with the APM Convention, he pondered, "There may be times when we sit thinking why we are doing what we are doing in this grand, imposing room. To whose glory are our sweat and patience to serve? To whose lives do we want to make a difference? Answering these questions, I find peace and security too broad an answer and too less an inspiration. Disarmament by itself could be a rather cold, dry concept. Let us think about pain and happiness, poverty and development that arms and disarmament could cause and cure. Maybe, we could
find the way out of the impasse we have been drowned into." As President of the Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Treaty, Thailand stresses the link between mine clearance and development. He noted with appreciation the ongoing discussion between the Resource Mobilization Task Force and the World Bank, a collaboration that "bring(s) mine action even closer to the
issue of socio-economic development."

He also expressed support for non-governmental participation in disarmament issues, noting that, "The success of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is a direct result of the dynamic synergy between public and private actors who have worked closely together for the cause of putting an end to human sufferings. In this regard, the CD's recent decision to engage actors from civil society in its work is not merely a refreshing development but also a timely response to changes in the larger environment."

A human security framework enables diplomats and disarmament experts to look away from the cold, uninspiring, technical and dry approach to weapons, as perceived by Ambassador Satjipon. Ambassador Rajmah Hussain experienced the power of a human security approach when she visited Nagasaki two years ago.

Ambassador Hussain, the third consecutive female President of the CD, recalled her impressions from her trip to Nagasaki, where she visited the atomic bomb museum. She graphically evoked the
images of August 9, 1944 that are preserved in the museum in Nagasaki, and urged the CD to take up the invitation of Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba to hold their 2005 summer session in Japan. "Perhaps," as Mayor Akiba wrote, if the CD Members were to "return to this fateful spot, the world can regain the path to human security in a nuclear-weapon-free world and thereby ensure that Nagasaki remains the last city to ever experience such a cruel fate."

Mr. Divjak-Tomic of Serbia and Montenegro, an Observer State to the CD, used his time on the floor to discuss his country's stance on the various cornerstones that comprise the international legal regime. They are making good progress in implementing the Ottawa Convention, the SALW PoA, and ratification of the CTBT. Serbia and Montenegro drafted a law on transfers of weapons, dual-use
goods and technologies, as part of their efforts to curb proliferation of nuclear weapons. They are also members of both the Missile Technology Control Regime as well as the Hague Code of Conduct.

In an acknowledgement of the need for a human security framework, Nigeria's Ambassador Oudseni noted with disappointment that "the issues of common security and common development under a collective international architecture" have not surfaced in a post-Cold War world. Instead, we continue to face the threat of nuclear annihilation, the effects of which were graphically and
poignantly described by Ambassador Satjipon. He asserted that the Nuclear Weapons Convention be "a topmost priority" of the CD, as urged by the First Special Session on Disarmament.

In an appropriately blunt fashion, Ambassador Oudseni stated plainly that, "The history of proliferation of nuclear weapons illustrates that by failing to curb or stop their own vertical proliferation, the nuclear powers have inadvertently encouraged other states to proliferate. (through) the obvious glorification of the possession of nuclear weapons." He likened the genocidal threat of nuclear weapons to the "slave trade, colonialism, and other numerous forms of brutal subjugation" that has been perpetuated throughout history, especially in his home continent of Africa.

Nigeria also suggested re-examining the monthly rotational Presidency of the CD which "leaves insufficient time.to carry out serious, behind-the-scene consultations" with key players and various groups. Such consultations are "the grease that oils the wheel of flexibility on difficult issues in the
CD."

In a somewhat exasperated tone, Nigeria argued that the CD must collectively "refocus" if they are to break its "lame-duck" status. The "subtle efforts" undertaken by some States to rejuvenate and impel the CD to action are not enough; these efforts are "masquerade(ing) under the orchestrated notion that some items on the agenda are not mature for substantive consideration and negotiation." He argued some States are attempting to prioritize "secondary items"- a thinly veiled reference to terrorism and WMD- which in effect eclipses the "overwhelming challenges of nuclear armament,
weaponization of outer space, and the absence of" Negative Security Assurances. Such action has "shackled" the CD "under the weight of consensus," which must be "rescued to ensure its responsible use."

Finally, Ambassador Hussain took the floor for a second time, to present her outgoing remarks as CD President. She presented a "Presidential Factual Summary" of the informal consultations on the Work
Programme that have been taking place. She stressed the "evolutionary" nature of the A5 which enjoys broad support, while maintaining that a "substantive programme of work is not ripe yet." Questions over lingering linkages "are a touchy issue" that do not, however, impede on the informal
plenaries "that may help to bring the process forward."

She invited the incoming CD presidents to work with her on an Interim Program of Work, until an official Work Program can be adopted. This proposal is in accordance with a suggestion put forth in the NGO statement, in which we urged presidents and Member States "to hold informal discussions
within the CD, the Secretariat, in the world's capitals and elsewhere. If negotiations in the CD are not yet possible due to the positions of certain States, dialogue must continue to move forward." With only two weeks left in this session of the CD, an unconfirmed agenda for the UNDC, and so much at stake at the upcoming PrepCom, the determination of ambassadors such as Ambassador Hussain are necessary if we are to heed the call from the NGO Committee on Peace and evolve beyond a dangerous belief in military security and work toward the genuine security of all nations.