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1 Nuclear Disarmament: OEWG Brief No. 1 1 (2013)

handle is hein.unl/nucdiamt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Nuclear Disarmament OEWG EiQ- The Treatment of the Issue of Nuclear Disarmament in Relevant Forums Established by the United Nations Prepared by UNIDIR 1. Background The Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) is the result of a resolution tabled in the First Committee of the sixty-seventh United Nations General Assembly in October 2012 by Austria, Mexico, and Norway as lead sponsors. That initiative, entitled Taking forward multilateral disarmament negotiations (A/C.A 67iL46), proposed the setting up of a working group that would be open to participation by all United Nations Members States. The tasks of the OEWG are to develop proposals to take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations for the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons and to submit a report on its work, reflecting discussions held and proposals made to the sixty-eighth General Assembly. In a vote in the First Committee, the resolution passed by 134 in favour to 4 against, with 34 abstentions. These figures changed slightly in the General Assembly itself (A/RES/67/56) where 147 votes were cast in support with 4 against-France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There were 31 abstentions, including China, India, Israel, and Pakistan. As agreed in the resolution, the OEWG will be convened in Geneva in 2013 for up to 15 working days. At its organizational meeting on 14 March, the OEWG agreed that Ambassador Manuel B. Dengo, Costa Rica, should chair the group. At his request, this paper was prepared by UNIDIR. It contains background information about the treatment of the issue of nuclear disarmament in relevant forums established by the United Nations. 2. Nuclear disarmament in the United Nations General Assembly 2.1. First Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD I) Nuclear disarmament was the subject of the first resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. In 1978, the first special session of the General Assembly on disarmament (SSOD I) made clear in its consensus resolution that the accumulation of weapons, particularly nuclear weapons, constituted much more a threat than a protection for mankind. While general and complete disarmament under effective international control was identified