Decision on implementation postponed

On Friday morning, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) convened a plenary meeting in the hopes of adopting CD/1870/Rev.1, the combined schedule of activities and appointment of working group chairs and special coordinators for the programme of work. (SeeCD/1870, the first draft, for reference.) However, the Pakistani delegation expressed the need for more time to receive instructions from capital, since CD/1870/Rev.1 had just been circulated yesterday. Several delegations reportedly asked for the fourth paragraph of the draft presidential statement, which accompanied CD/1870/Rev.1, to be deleted. The paragraph, according to the official press release, “referred to the need for consultations by the President of the Conference on the programme of work for the remainder of 2009 and by the incoming President for 2010, in advance of next year’s session.” The CD president, Ambassador Caroline Millar of Australia, agreed to delete the paragraph.

The next plenary meeting of the CD is scheduled for Monday, 10 August at 10:00 AM, when Ambassador Millar hopes the Conference will adopt the framework of implementation for the programme of work.

- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF