Kuwait voices concern at Conference on Disarmament's inactivity

NEW YORK, Oct 18 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait has expressed concern at inactivity of the UN-linked Conference on Disarmament (CD), a forum that had been set up to press for limiting weapons' stockpiles worldwide.
Abdulaziz Ammash Al-Ajmi, the Second Secretary of the Kuwaiti Permanent Mission at the UN, indicated in an address at a meeting of the UN First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, that "absence of political will on part of a number of major states constituted an obstacle that has also caused its inactivity, particularly due to lack of consensus on a specific agenda.
"Despite such a challenge, the State of Kuwait has applauded the resolution of the Conference on Disarmament CD/1956/Rev.1, to establish an unofficial working group commissioned to produce a program of work, robust in substance and progressive over time in implementation." The Kuwaiti diplomat welcomed a proposal to assign a special rapporteur to follow up on the issue of expanding the CD membership to include largest number possible of UN member states in this key body.
Al-Ajmi noted significant role of this forum as to presenting recommendations on disarmament. "However, it continues to suffer from the inability to reach concurrent views regarding disarmament's issues since 2000." Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a forum that had been established to negotiate multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements. Established in 1979, it was the forum used by its member states, currently numbering 65, to negotiate the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention.
While the conference is not formally a UN agency, it is linked to the international organization through a personal representative of the Secretary-General -- this representative serves as the secretary general of the conference. Resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly often request the conference to consider specific disarmament matters. In turn, the CD annually reports its activities to the Assembly.
One of the forum's major achievements was made on September 10, 1996, when the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was adopted by a large majority, exceeding two-thirds of the UNGA's members.(end) mao.rk