RECENT DISARMAMENT STEPS REVIEWED BY 'GROUP OF INTERESTED STATES'
UNITED-NATIONS
Press Release
DC/2623
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RECENT DISARMAMENT STEPS REVIEWED BY 'GROUP OF INTERESTED STATES'
19981218
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__NEW YORK, 18 December (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- The
Group of Interested Member States, established last March on the basis
of a United Nations General Assembly resolution to promote practical
disarmament measures, held its fifth meeting on 14 December at
Headquarters in New York. The meeting, attended by representatives of
20 Member States and chaired by Germany, reviewed several recent
United Nations activities related to conventional arms and
particularly small arms.
The Group received briefings by members of the Department for
Disarmament Affairs on three recent gatherings -- the subregional
seminar on the training of trainers in practical disarmament measures,
held in Yaoundé (Cameroon) from 27 to 31 July 1998; the workshop on
"Weapons collection and integration of former combatants into civil
society - the experiences of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras,
Nicaragua and Colombia" held in Guatemala City from 18 to 20 November
1998; and the second meeting of the CASA (the Coordinating Action on
Small Arms) mechanism held at Headquarters on 24 November 1998.
The Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha
Dhanapala, addressed the meeting, expressing his satisfaction with the
progress achieved by the Group and the generous support for the
initiatives launched. He introduced Ivor Fung and Pericles Gasparini
Alves, the newly-appointed Directors of the Regional United Nations
Centres for Peace and Disarmament in Africa and Latin America,
respectively. Outlining their planned agendas, they noted that
budgetary constraints would require them to devote special attention
to fund-raising activities.
Walter Lindner, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Germany and
chairman of the meeting, noted that two proposals received by the
Group of Interested States -- the Yaoundé seminar and the Guatemala
workshop -- had been successfully implemented, while a third, the
weapons collection project in Albania, was still ongoing.
The Yaoundé seminar had been organized to strengthen the capacity of
the Central African States to consolidate peace and security and to
provide an opportunity for participants to focus on the link between
disarmament, peace, security and development. Attendance at the
seminar, for which the Governments of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway,
Portugal and the United Kingdom, had provided financial support,
included representatives of other
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international organizations as well as members of the United Nations
Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa.
The Group was also briefed on the Guatemala workshop. Luis Raúl
Estévez-López of Guatemala echoed the view that the Workshop, made
possible through the financial support of the Governments of Germany,
Italy and Norway, had been a success.
On the ongoing Albania project, the Department of Disarmament Affairs
noted that the progress achieved to date would be reported at another
meeting of the Group, since the first meeting on the pilot programme
for weapons in exchange for development in Gramsh District was that
day being convened in Tirana. The Department would likely brief the
Group of Interested States on that meeting early in January 1999.
The Group was told that the Department of Public Information (DPI) was
drafting the preliminary outline of a United Nations Television
documentary focusing on the humanitarian impact of small arms on
civilians and particularly the illicit arms trade. The Government of
Switzerland had offered approximately $40,000 towards the production
costs of the half-hour film.
It was reported that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was
at the initial stages of developing a mobile exhibit on small arms and
children. The exhibit, initially to be developed in the English
language, would be an interactive walk-through for visitors along the
lines of UNICEF's landmines exhibit. It was expected to be completed
by mid-June 1999; the Government of Andorra had pledged approximately
$23,000 towards its production costs.
The Department of Disarmament Affairs announced that its Conventional
Arms Branch had created a web page dealing with conventional arms,
particularly small arms. The documents related to the Yaoundé seminar
and Guatemala workshop would be posted there. [The address is:
"http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/CAB/index.htm".]