No action on CD/1952

Anina Dalbert | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Friday 21 June to discuss CD/1952. Statements were delivered by the CD President, Kazakhstan, Russia, Syria, Pakistan, China, New Zealand, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Germany, Switzerland, Algeria and Cuba.

No consensus and no action on the draft programme of work

Since presenting a simplified programme of work last week, and tabling it as an official document, the outgoing CD President Ambassador Mohsen Naziri Asl of Iran He regretted that the proposal was not accepted by all members yet and decided to not take any formal action on the text during the plenary. No delegation formally opposed the proposal. 

CD/1952 would establish a working group on agenda items 1, 3, and 4 and appoint a special coordinator on items 5–7. The draft programme specifies that it does not prescribe or preclude any outcomes and has a view to enable further compromises including the possibility of future negotiations under any agenda item.

The reactions to the draft programme of work varied. Even though the draft programme of work was far from ideal in many delegations opinion, Kazakhstan, Syria, China, Iraq, Switzerland, Algeria and Cuba expressed support for the document. The representative of the Russian Federation asserted, “this is the only pragmatic way forward for the moment”. In addition, the Pakistani delegation, which has blocked the adoption of any draft programme of work presented since 2009, stated that it was ready to support this draft.

Many of these delegations argued that the mandate in CD/1952 is by no means was contrary to the CD’s mandate as a negotiating body. It was noted that previous experiences in the CD’s history has showed that in-depth discussion can be a supportive and helpful for negotiations later on, as was the case with the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Algerian and Cuban delegation asked the coming president to continue working on a programme of work based this proposal, while representatives of Russia, Germany, and New Zealand highlighted an understanding that no consensus exists on CD/1952.

Next plenary meeting

The next plenary meeting will be held on Tuesday, 25 June at 10:00 in the Council Chamber.