Statement by Mr. Nirupam Dev Nath, Counsellor under the Thematic Discussion on “Disarmament Machinery” at the First Committee of the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, 30 October 2019 in Conference Room 4
Madam Chair,
Bangladesh aligns itself with the Statement delivered by Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) under this thematic discussion.
Bangladesh reiterates its support to the works of the UN Disarmament Machinery, primarily constituted of its three mutually reinforcing fora namely the UNGA First Committee, the Conference on Disarmament and the UN Disarmament Commission. We also wish to appreciate the contribution of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) towards expanding the horizons of our knowledge and expertise on disarmament. We stress the need for ensuring enhanced and predictable resources for the Institute to deliver on its mandates.
We share our concerns with others over the protracted impasse in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) due to the lack of consensus on a programme of work over the past two decades. We hope that we will see more creative and forward-leaning discussions towards a possible solution to this longstanding problem in the days ahead. We urge the Secretary General to keep this issue high on his agenda and redouble his efforts towards generating the necessary political will required for this purpose.
The UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC), the other key pillar of the multilateral disarmament machinery, regrettably, has also failed to find a way forward this year to commence its substantive session. We appreciate the sincere efforts of the Chairs of the Commission to advance the discussions on nuclear weapons and outer space in informal settings. Unfortunately, however, this cannot compensate the missed opportunity to build on the progress on the Commission’s works in 2018. We look forward to double pace our works in the Commission in 2020 to fill in the gaps towards fulfilling its mandate in this cycle.
We are nonetheless happy that we could avoid the overcast situation in the First Committee at the beginning of this session and advance our works forward to achieve our shared goals and aspirations for a better and a peaceful world for our future generation. We subscribe the notion of making the works of the First Committee more efficient and fit for its purpose by reducing duplication of efforts through streamlining various parallel resolutions and processes.
Madam Chair,
To conclude, we believe that the UN disarmament machinery remains the best way to chart a way forward to achieve our shared goals despite enormous challenges, stalemates, and painstakingly slow progress in their works. We must work together to reverse the trend of decade long paralysis in its most vital organs including the CD. We reaffirm our support for convening the Fourth Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament (SSOD-IV) at an early date. We believe SSOD-IV would give Member States a new opportunity to demonstrate their collective will and capacity to infuse dynamism into the overall disarmament machinery towards achieving meaningful and far-reaching outcomes through a balanced combination of dialogue and diplomacy in a multilateral setting.
I thank you.