Mr. Chairman, the United States takes great pleasure today, in the presence of Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw, in welcoming Myanmar as the newest State Party to the Biological Weapons Convention, bringing our number to 171. My Delegation would like to offer Myanmar our heartiest congratulations on taking this important step. Since the goal of the Convention is the global prohibition and elimination of such weapons, its States Parties have long placed a priority on universal adherence. We have just taken one more important step in that direction.
The threat of climate change is on the international radar. A second danger has receded from view but remains poised to do great harm: nuclear weapons. In discussing this question, I want to take my cue from the humanitarian theme of this event. Nuclear weapons cannot be used without jeopardizing civilians. Even a limited or regional nuclear war can alter our climate and produce famine conditions. This humanitarian perspective on nuclear weapons is attracting growing attention. People are becoming more familiar with the environmental effects of decades of nuclear tests. They are learning how close the world has come in the past to nuclear conflicts, and how “good luck” was the factor that made the difference between peace and cataclysm.
Syria must disclose documents about its chemical weapons program and grant full access to inspectors if it wants to convince world powers it has destroyed its entire toxic stockpile, U.N.. disarmament chief Angela Kane said on Tuesday. The issue of Syria's destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile dominated discussions at a conference of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague on Tuesday. The effort was launched after a sarin gas attack on Aug. 21 last year during the Syrian civil war that killed hundreds of civilians in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.
I am pleased to send greetings to the Nineteenth Session of the Conference of State Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The events of the past year highlighted the immense value of the Chemical Weapons Convention as an effective, comprehensive and non-discriminatory instrument to verify the destruction of existing stockpiles of chemical weapons and to prevent their proliferation. The historic mission to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapon programme has been a key focus for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Some 98 per cent of Syria’s declared chemicals have been destroyed. The OPCW-UN Joint Mission has fulfilled its mandate and its operations ended on 30 September.
International efforts to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of non-State actors must be continually strengthened through stepped‑up engagement by Member States, the outgoing head of the Security Council’s subsidiary body on the issued, known as the 1540 Committee, said this afternoon. “The value of direct interaction with States has once again been demonstrated,” Ambassador Oh Joon of the Republic of Korea, told the Council in the semi-annual briefing on implementation of Council resolution 1540 (2004), which aims to keep access to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons away from terrorists and other non-State groups.
Across the UN, rates of female participation are improving, with women occupying high-profile posts. Valerie Amos, the former British minister, is the organisation's humanitarian chief. Germany's Angela Kane, the UN's high representative for disarmament affairs, helped pave the way for the dismantlement of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. Sigrid Kaag, a Dutch diplomat working for the UN, headed up the mission that made sure those weapons were destroyed. Dr Margaret Chan, who has been in the spotlight recently because of the Ebola outbreak, runs the World Health Organisation. In August Maj Gen Kristin Lund became the first female commander of a UN peacekeeping force, taking charge in Cyprus.
The environment has long been a silent casualty of war and armed conflict. From the contamination of land and the destruction of forests to the plunder of natural resources and the collapse of management systems, the environmental consequences of war are often widespread and devastating. Armed conflicts are becoming ever more complex and require solutions that address the root causes. Issues of poverty, vulnerability to climate shocks, ethnic marginalization and the transparent, sustainable and equitable management of natural resources must be considered within and alongside peace agreements if we are to build more resilient and prosperous societies. On this international day, let us reaffirm our commitment to protect the environment from the impacts of war and to prevent future conflicts over natural resources.
The growing prospect of cyber warfare needed to be addressed urgently before such weapons broke down the entire edifice of international security, heard the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) as it considered other disarmament measures, before concluding its thematic debate. Touching on the more pernicious uses of information and communications technologies, the representative of Pakistan said that technological innovations had been used in recent years for indiscriminate surveillance and as a means of waging cyber-attacks. In view of those dangerous developments, it was essential to regulate their production and use “sooner rather than later”.
Global peace and security depended in large measure on stability at the regional and subregional levels, making that relationship an inseparable one, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as delegations delivered statements on regional disarmament, weapons of mass destruction and the disarmament aspects of outer space.
Last year’s chemical attacks in Syria “shocked an entire world” and were a reminder that the use of weapons of mass destruction remained a serious threat, heard the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) as it began its thematic debate on weapons of mass destruction.
The Chair of the Security Council’s 1540 Committee, Ambassador Oh Joon, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, led a two-day visit to China that took place on 23 and 24 October at the invitation of the Government. Other participants in the visit included a 1540 Committee member, Ali Mahamat Zene, from the Permanent Mission of Chad to the United Nations, and three members of the Group of Experts supporting the Committee’s work. The objectives of the visit were to discuss issues related to the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) and future steps by China in this regard, including the submission of additional information and the option of a voluntary national implementation action plan, and to provide effective practices on its implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).
Opening Remarks by H.E. Ms. Angela Kane, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, at the awarding ceremony for the Fellows of the Programme of fellowship on disarmament.
Transferred and traded around the globe, “excessive accumulation and unregulated proliferation” of illicit small arms and light weapons led to devastating consequences, say speakers in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) as thematic debate on conventional weapons continued. While the world was focused primarily on weapons of mass destruction, the effect of conventional weapons was more insidious, causing more mass casualties and untold suffering around the world, said the representative of Kenya. Armed violence, he added, was a major impediment to surmounting the challenges of building a peaceful society capable of meeting development goals.
Destabilizing Stocks of Conventional Weapons Preoccupy First Committee as Speaker Describes Amount Spent on ‘Breeding, Exacerbating and Maintaining’ Conflict. It was “ironic” that the weapons that propelled and sustained conflicts came from areas that enjoyed peace, a delegate told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) as it continued its thematic debate on conventional weapons.
UN Member States are called upon to provide information on exports and imports of conventional weapons in seven categories. States are also invited to provide additional background information, on military holdings, procurement through national production, national policies, and international transfers of small arms and light weapons.
The Government of Cambodia, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, hosted a regional workshop on the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) for member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The meeting took place from 15 to 17 October in Phnom Penh. This first workshop organized for ASEAN States focused on the effective physical protection and accounting of “Related Materials”* under Security Council resolution 1540 (2004).
Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, has confirmed Vietnam’s ongoing policy to support comprehensive disarmament, especially with regard to nuclear weapons. She made the affirmation at the general debate of the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security of the 69th UN General Assembly in New York on October 13.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Wunna Maung Lwin told the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday that Parliament had approved the government’s proposal to ratify the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of 1972. Parliament approved the country’s accession to the convention – which bans the development, production and stockpiling of such biological weapons – on September 29, he said. Myanmar signed the convention in 1972 but never ratified it. The proposal to ratify the convention was submitted to Parliament by Thant Kyaw, deputy minister for foreign affairs. “Over 170 countries have already ratified the BWC. All Asean countries have except us,” Thant Kyaw said, adding that the move would demonstrate to the world Myanmar’s commitment to banning such weapons. The convention requires countries that ratify it not to acquire or stockpile biological weapons under any circumstances. However, it has no verification system for monitoring compliance, which critics say undermines its effectiveness. Myanmar announced it was planning to ratify the convention late last year.
