'Multilateral agenda needs to be energized'; First Committee: Disarmament and International Security.

• Position: GA 57 Session

In his latest reports on the work of the Organization and on the implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration, the Secretary-General states that global military spending exceeds $800 billion a year, and the pace towards the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, remains slow, leaving more than 30,000 such weapons in existence. He also reports that there is compelling evidence of the possibility of nuclear, chemical or biological terrorism and that efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space remained deadlocked.

The First (Disarmament and International Security) Committee discussed these concerns in its different debates. Of the 52 resolutions drafted, 23 were voted--the highest among the six Main Committees--and nearly half involved nuclear weapons. On resolutions that affirmed, reiterated, commended and strove to shape norms on nuclear disarmament or brace existing ones, more Member States cast "ayes" than "nays".

Whereas declared as well as undeclared nuclear-weapon States seemed more often to say nay on prohibition, reduction or ban of nuclear weapons, or on assurances to non-nuclear States or observance of environmental norms, the Committee nevertheless deserves credit for its unanimous approval of a text on the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibited the development, production and stockpiling of such weapons. It also approved two texts on "Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them" and on their illicit trade.

A senior diplomat from Bangladesh told the UN Chronicle that delegations behaved in the "customary" way. "Disarmament has gone out of fashion. There was complacency over past gains, and frustration over the unwillingness of the major military Powers to move seriously towards general and complete disarmament", he said. "There was also a new sense of unease in the world--the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf was sinking deeper into the morass of wider conflict," he added.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Committee Chairman Matia Mulumba Semakula Kiwanuka of Uganda said: "When practically everybody subscribes to the concept of multilateralism, it was strange that no one wanted the Chair to mention in his text anything on it." He offered an explanation. Committee members felt that no group, no organization has a "monopoly" on the "universally held" concept of multilateralism. "Multilateralism was not a source of disagreement", Ambassador Kiwanuka pointed out. "What becomes a source of disagreement is what is added to multilateralism." He said that the Non-Aligned Movement felt that his resolution would take the "wind out of the sails" of their text, so he withdrew it in the Movement's favour.

Stating interest in multilateralism as a "core principle" in disarmament negotiations, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Cuba and Iran sponsored a resolution on the "Promotion of multilateralism in the area...