16 March 2006

The 16 March plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament marked the end of the Presidency of the Republic of Korea. Member States discussed the compilation non-paper, the Republic of Korea Presidency and P6 initiative, and welcomed the new Ambassador of New Zealand Don MacKay to his post. Statements were delivered by Brazil, Iraq on behalf of the Group of 21, Mexico on behalf of Brazil, Chile, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and Mexico, Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, Algeria and the Republic of Korea.

Delegations gave their appreciation to outgoing President Ambassador Park of the Republic of Korea for chairing the focused debates on agenda items 1 and 2, as well as for his non-paper compiling proposals and observations based on debates on nuclear disarmament under his Presidency. Ambassador Macedo of Mexico called the non-paper a "useful step", and Ambassador Landman of the Netherlands concluded that while it "may not reflect everything every delegation has said, ... it surely is a very useful tool to recall and to understand the gist of our debate."

Statements by Syrian Arab Republic, Malaysia, Pakistan and Algeria brought up shortcomings of the compilation. Dr. Hussein Ali of Syrian Arab Republic wished the non-paper would follow the two tracks of assessment of nuclear reductions, and proposals for future nuclear disarmament measures. Supported by Malaysian Ambassador Yusri, he further noted that nuclear disarmament, the main issue, was not being addressed directly and extensively. Deputy Permanent Representative Tehmina Janjua of Pakistan saw a tendency to shift focus from nuclear disarmament to non-proliferation in the compilation. Syria and Pakistan both called for delegations' widely expressed support for the A5 proposal to be reflected. Pakistan regretted the selectiveness of the compilation, holding that it therefore "can only be a non-paper that has no status at all" and requested the Secretariat of the Conference to rather publish the Verbatim Records "the soonest" for the best overview of States' positions. Ambassador Landman of the Netherlands agreed, recalling that "in every decent conference [he] attended [one would] get these records within a week". The Verbatim Records of the CD are normally available about ten weeks after the plenary, which indeed may be considered on the slow side. The Netherlands proposed that delegations who felt inadequately represented in the paper submit to the President a short text to be circulated to delegations as an addendum.

Delegations also commented on the evolving role of the Presidents in the P6 initiative. On behalf of the G21, Iraq made a statement recalling the Group's support for a "representative for Women's League for Peace" to deliver the International Women's Day statement. G21 called for future Presidencies to make further effort to redress the situation. Mexico requested future Presidents continue the work started by Poland and Republic of Korea in order to make the P6 initiative really meaningful. Ambassador Medeiros of Brazil called for strengthening the role of the Friends of Presidents by including them in weekly presidential consultations and assigning them specific tasks.

In his statement as outgoing President, Ambassador Park noted that delegations had made more than 90 interventions in the nine plenary meetings under his Presidency. He held that the increased level of engagement "sheds light on the future of the CD whose continued existence has recently hung precariously in the balance." Assessing the debates in terms of "interactiveness and inclusiveness", the President "hesitantly conclude[d]" that new ground has been broken while the atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion has been improved.

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom thanks Ambassador Park and his delegation for all their efforts during the Republic of Korea's Presidency. We certainly join him in his hope that "the CD will be able to sustain this momentum and come to a meaningful conclusion at the end of this year in the form of an agreeable programme of work."

Alex Sundberg, Disarmament Intern 
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom