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CD continues discussion on its annual report

Gabriella Irsten | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met twice on Friday, 9 September to continue its discussions on the draft of the annual report of the CD to the UN General Assembly.

Draft report
In the morning, the CD secretariat circulated a document that presented the current status of the draft report, outlining which paragraphs have been adopted and which still require some consideration. During the meeting, nine additional paragraphs were adopted: paragraphs 28, 38, 40, 41, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, as well as parts of paragraph 20, 25 bis, and 25 ter.

The main part of today’s meetings was dedicated to discussing prior difficulties, such as paragraph 5, the paragraph which deals with how the statement made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations should be reflected in the report. The Pakistani delegation asked for more time to consult with capital while Ambassador Hoffman of Germany believed that the UN Secretary-General’s mention of the difficulties the CD is currently facing is a factual point and should be included in the report. Ambassador Hoffman continued by highlighting the fact that during the whole 2011 session, all member states seemed to agree that the CD is not doing well. He emphasized this by quoting statements on the difficulties in the CD made by the Pakistani delegation this year.

There was also a longer discussion on paragraph 19 and paragraph 25 bis. The main points raised in relation to paragraph 19 focused on how to formulate the fact that no programme of work has been achieved in 2011.  Algeria’s delegate stated that while it is obvious that no programme of work has been reached, it is important not to formulate the report so that it seems as if the CD is being accused. The paragraph was left pending.   

Paragraph 25 bis, which deals with how the report should reference the concerns and views of other fora, as also discussed extensively, but with no further progress in the debate.  

The meeting was adjourned in the afternoon when CD President Ambassador Reyes Rodriguez of Cuba decided that an informal meeting, facilitated by Mr. Michiel Combrink from the South African delegation, would continue the discussion on more specific language. The informal meeting would be open for all interested delegations to further work on formulating new proposal for the paragraphs that are still pending. Any proposed text from these informal discussions will be presented and discussed at the next plenary. 

Next plenary meeting
The next plenary meeting will be held on Tuesday, 13 September at 10:00 am, where the CD will continue to negotiate the draft annual report and to work on the first draft of the supplementary UN General Assembly resolution.