Agreement reached over the re-establishment of the IWG

Viola Giuliano | Reaching Critical Will
25 February 2014

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Tuesday, 25 February where the CD President announced that agreement on the renewal of Informal Working Group (IWG) mandate had been reached during informal consultations yesterday. The delegations of Brazil, Iraq, and Algeria delivered statements.

•  CD President Ambassador Vinicio Mati of Italy reported that agreement has been reached on the reestablishment of the IWG. A draft decision will be circulated and its adoption is scheduled for next week.
• With regard to the schedule of activities, CD President asked the regional groups to express their preferences on the set of options listed in the proposals, as well as to nominate coordinators to facilitate the discussions.
• Ambassador Pedro Motta Pinto Coelho of Brazil emphasized that the time has come for declaring unacceptable both the use and possession of nuclear weapons. He underlined how the Nayarit Conference reinforced the perception that urgent action is needed on the road to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons and hoped that the political will displayed by CELAC to advance the disarmament agenda could serve as an inspiration to nuclear-armed states.