The UNGA First Committee programme of work has not been adopted, as expected, on Thursday, 03 October and the Committee’s work was suspended today, 07 October as a small group of states have blocked agreement by consensus on the Committee’s programme of work. This is due to a continued dispute about the denial of visas by the United States, as host of the UN Headquarters, for diplomats of certain countries, including Russia and Iran.
Today marks the beginning of the 74th United Nations General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security (UNGA First Committee), a month-long discussion on all things disarmament including autonomous drones, anti-personnel landmines, nuclear weapons and the international arms trade. The Control Arms Coalition is gearing up to work towards another successful Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Resolution, a difficult task given the high bar set by the success of last year’s resolution which reached a record 100 co-sponsors.
The 73rd UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. Photo credit: Control Arms
This year’s resolution will be tabled by the President of the Sixth Conference of the States Parties to the ATT (CSP6), Ambassador Carlos Foradori of Argentina. Earlier in September, the Ambassador announced that this year’s thematic focus for CSP6 will be information sharing and transparency for the prevention of diversion. Control Arms looks forward to working with Argentina in achieving robust implementation and full universalisation of the ATT.
Momentum around the ATT has continued from the Fifth Conference of States Parties which took place on 26 – 30 August, with the Maldives becoming the Treaty’s 105th State Party and China announcing during the UNGA High-Level week that it has initiated domestic legal procedures to join the ATT.
Control Arms, with support from representatives from seven member organizations from Africa, Asia, Latin America, CARICOM and MENA, will seek to build on this momentum through side events, a strong statement during the NGO segment, and bilateral meetings in support of a strong ATT resolution.
The side events will take place during lunchtime on:
- October 22: “Living up to the Arms Trade Treaty’s promise: The role of the Arms Trade Treaty in addressing Gender-Based Violence” – co-hosted by Control Arms, Permanent Mission of Ireland
- October 24: “Presentation of the ATT Monitor Annual Report 2019 and Launch of the ATT-BAP report ‘The Known Unknowns: Examining the 2018 ATT Annual Reports” – co-hosted by Control Arms, Permanent Mission of Australia, Permanent Mission of the Netherlands
- October 25: “Report from the Arms Trade Treaty Fifth Conference of States Parties (CSP5) and Prospects for CSP6″ – co-hosted by Control Arms, Permanent Mission of Argentina
Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for live updates, particularly during the conventional weapons debate to be held the week of 21 October.