I'm sorry Mr. Secretary-General, nothing is going on?

Beatrice Fihn and Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Thursday morning for the last plenary meeting under the presidency of Bangladesh.Ambassador Abdul Hannan delivered a short outgoing statement before finishing his presidency. The CD also heard statements by thenew ambassador of South Africa, Mr. Jerry Matjila; Ambassador Jazaïry of Algeria; the incoming CD president, Ambassador Mikhail Khvostov of Belarus; Pakistan’s Ambassador Akram; and Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Secretary-General of the CD and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva.

Highlights 
Ambassador Jerry Matjila of South Africa expressed hope that the CD would resume its role as a negotiating body in 2010, a year that according to him presents a real opportunity for progress and for restoring confidence.

The Secretary-General of the CD and the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, pointed out that the CD has not moved forward during these four weeks and that instead, so far the CD had in fact moved backwards. He called for reflection on the squandered resources and relevance of the CD.

“Not even zero—it is minus”
Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Secretary-General of the CD and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, expressed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s “great disappointment” with the efforts of the CD. Mr. Ordzhonikidze argued that after last year’s adoption of a programme of work, the inability to get an agreement on a similar basic document this year was “not even zero—it is minus”. He pointed out that while the CD is a body outside the UN system, “enormous” resources from the UN budget are still used to convene these meetings. He hoped that member states would take the time to reflect on that over the weekend, because the situation is “becoming intolerable” not just in the CD, but also in international relations at large.

Mr. Ordzhonikidze also argued that a programme of work is simply a basic document—it is not a finalization of any treaty. He emphasized that progress is not up to the president of the CD; it is up to all members of the Conference. He shared a conversation he had with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who had asked what was going on in the CD. Mr. Ordzhonikidze explained that he was forced to answer, “I’m sorry, Mr. Secretary-General. Nothing. Nothing is going on.”

In his first statement to the CD, Ambassador Jerry Matjila of South Africa lamented that the lack of progress in disarmament over the past decade not only hindered international peace and security but also undermined international confidence in multilateral disarmament machinery. He expressed hope that the CD would demonstrate flexibility and concern with all member’s security interests in order to resume its role as a negotiating body in 2010.

From the outgoing president
The outgoing CD president made a brief statement on the work of the CD so far and showed appreciation for the two high-level speeches made by the foreign minister of Bangladesh and the deputy foreign minister of Italy. Ambassador Hannan of Bangladesh thanked all delegations for their cooperation and support. Ambassador Jazaïry of Algeria expressed his and many other delegations’ appreciation for “the outstanding way” Ambassador Hannan carried out his mandate. Ambassador Akram of Pakistan also expressed appreciation, saying that the president had done an excellent job during this difficult time for the CD, especially by responding with enthusiasm to follow a particular course of action.

Ambassador Mikhail Khvostov from Belarus will take over the CD presidency next week. In a short comment, he stated that his delegation would continue the close cooperation in a spirit of transparency with the other five presidents of the 2010 session in order to get the CD back to work. He added that they would do so on the basis of last year’s work and a number of consensus resolutions from the General Assembly. Ambassador Khvostov also announced that his deputy minister of foreign affairs will attend the CD on Tuesday, 16 February to deliver a statement on nuclear disarmament.

Notes from the gallery
While Reaching Critical Will would like to join the delegations in thanking outgoing president for his work during these first weeks, especially his successful way of moving past the initial disagreement on the annual agenda, we still must not forget the lack of substantive progress in the CD. We join the Secretary-General of the CD and the Secretary-General of the UN in their disappointment with the inability of the CD to adopt a programme of work. It is worth to repeat Mr. Ordzhonikidze’s argument that a programme of work is a basic document, not a conclusion of a treaty. We urge all member states of the CD, together with all other countries, to remember their shared interests and common views—for example, that in the UN General Assembly this year they unanimously agreed on a resolutionencouraging the commencement of work on a fissile material (cut-off) treaty. There is agreement in the international community regarding the commencement of negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for weapons purposes and delegates in the CD should not continue to prevent such agreement from moving into formal negotiations. Time is moving fast and the CD must start working, or it will, as Mr. Ordzhonikidze stated, lose its relevance.

Next plenary meeting
The next plenary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 16 February 2010, at 10:00 AM. The deputy foreign minister of Belarus will attend the meeting.