A/RES/47/54
A-F: 81st plenary meeting
9 December 1992
G: 98th plenary
meeting
8 April 1993
Review of the implementation of the recommendations
and decisions
adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth special session al
A
Report of the Disarmament Commission
The General Assembly,
Having considered the annual report of the Disarmament
Commission,
Considering the role that the Disarmament Commission has been called upon
to play and the contribution that it
should make in examining and submitting
recommendations on various problems in the field of disarmament and in the
promotion of the
implementation of the relevant decisions of the tenth special
session,
Noting the support for the proposal to include a new
item in the agenda
of the 1993 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission, entitled
"General guidelines for non-proliferation,
with special emphasis on weapons of
mass destruction",
Also noting the support for consideration of the inclusion of a new
item
in the agenda of the 1994 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission,
entitled "International arms transfer, with particular
reference to resolution
46/36 H of 6 December 1991",
Recognizing the need to improve further the effective functioning of
the
Disarmament Commission, and bearing in mind the experience of the 1992
substantive session, when the agenda item on objective
information on military
matters was successfully concluded,
Recalling its resolution 46/38 A of 6 December 1991,
1.
Takes note of the annual report of the Disarmament Commission;
2. Commends the Disarmament Commission for its adoption
by consensus of
a set of guidelines and recommendations for objective information on military
matters, which were recommended to
the General Assembly for consideration,
pursuant to the adopted "Ways and means to enhance the functioning of the
Disarmament Commission";
3. Notes with satisfaction that the Disarmament Commission has
successfully implemented its reform programme and has made
considerable
progress on other substantive items on its agenda;
4. Recalls the role of the Disarmament Commission as the
specialized,
deliberative body within the United Nations multilateral disarmament machinery
that allows for in-depth deliberations
on specific disarmament issues, leading
to the submission of concrete recommendations on those issues;
5. Requests the Disarmament
Commission to continue its work in
accordance with its mandate, as set forth in paragraph 118 of the Final
Document of the Tenth
Special Session of the General Assembly, and with
paragraph 3 of resolution 37/78 H of 9 December 1982, and to that end to make
every
effort to achieve specific recommendations on the items on its agenda,
taking into account the adopted "Ways and means to enhance
the functioning of
the Disarmament Commission";
6. Stresses the importance for the Disarmament Commission to work on
the
basis of a relevant agenda of disarmament topics, thereby enabling the
Commission to concentrate its efforts and thus optimize its
progress on
specific subjects in accordance with resolution 37/78 H;
7. Recommends that the Disarmament Commission, at its
1992
organizational session, adopt the following items for consideration at its
1993 substantive session:
(1) Process of
nuclear disarmament in the framework of international
peace and security, with the objective of the elimination of nuclear
weapons;
(2) Regional approach to disarmament within the context of global
security;
(3) The
role of science and technology in the context of international
security, disarmament and other related fields;
8.
Also requests that the Disarmament Commission, at the aforementioned
organizational meeting, consider the following matters:
(a) The objective of moving the agenda of the Disarmament Commission to
a three-item phased approach with one item in the first
year of consideration,
one item in its middle year and one item in its concluding year, with the
result that, in principle, one item
is added and one item is concluded,
respectively, at each substantive session;
(b) That, in furtherance of the foregoing,
the 1993 substantive session
should be considered as a transitional year and therefore should consider
whether:
(i) Two
items on the current agenda, namely, those items referred to in
paragraph 7 (2) and (3) above, respectively, should be
concluded;
(ii) One item, namely, that referred to in paragraph 7 (1) above, should
be held over for conclusion
at the next substantive session in 1994;
(iii) One new item should be included in the substantive agenda;
9. Further
requests the Disarmament Commission to meet for a period not
exceeding four weeks during 1993 and to submit a substantive report
to the
General Assembly at its forty-eighth session;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to the Disarmament
Commission
the annual report of the Conference on Disarmament, together with
all the official records of the forty-seventh session of the General
Assembly
relating to disarmament matters, and to render all assistance that the
Commission may require for implementing the present
resolution;
11. Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure full provision to the
Commission and its subsidiary bodies
of interpretation and translation
facilities in the official languages and to assign, as a matter of priority,
all the necessary
resources and services to that end;
12. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-eighth
session the item
entitled "Report of the Disarmament Commission".
B
Guidelines and recommendations for objective
information on
military matters
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 43/75 G of
7 December 1988 and 44/116 E of 15
December 1989,
Taking note of the report of the Disarmament Commission, containing the
text, adopted by the Commission at its 1992 session, of the guidelines and
recommendations for objective information on military
matters,
Expressing its appreciation for the work accomplished by the Disarmament
Commission in finalizing the text of the
guidelines and recommendations,
Reaffirming its firm conviction that a better flow of objective
information on military matters
can help to relieve international tension and
contribute to the building of confidence among States on a global, regional or
subregional
level and to the conclusion of concrete disarmament agreements,
Appealing to all States to consider the widest possible use
of objective
information on military matters,
Noting with satisfaction the encouraging results of specific measures
agreed
upon and implemented in certain regions,
1. Endorses the guidelines and recommendations for objective
information on military
matters as adopted by the Disarmament Commission at
its 1992 substantive session;
2. Recommends the guidelines and recommendations
to all States for
implementation, fully taking into account specific political, military and
other conditions prevailing in a region,
on the basis of initiatives and with
the agreement of the States of the region concerned;
3. Invites all States to provide
relevant information to the
Secretary-General regarding their implementation of the guidelines and
recommendations not later than
31 May 1994;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the
implementation of the guidelines and recommendations,
on the basis of national
reports on accumulated relevant experience, to the General Assembly at its
forty-ninth session;
5.
Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-ninth
session an item entitled "Implementation of the guidelines and
recommendations
for objective information on military matters".
C
Disarmament
Week
The General Assembly,
Noting the momentous developments of unprecedented magnitude that have
taken place in international
relations recently, and welcoming the important
achievements of late in the areas of arms limitation and disarmament,
Noting
with satisfaction the increasing role and prestige of the United
Nations as a focal point for coordinating and harmonizing the efforts
of
States,
Emphasizing anew the need for and the importance of world public opinion
in support of disarmament efforts in all
their aspects,
Also noting with satisfaction the broad and active support by Governments
and international and national organizations
of the decision taken by the
General Assembly at its tenth special session, the first special session
devoted to disarmament, regarding
the proclamation of the week starting 24
October, the day of the founding of the United Nations, as a week devoted to
fostering the
objectives of disarmament,
Recalling the recommendations concerning the World Disarmament Campaign
contained in annex V to
the Concluding Document of the Twelfth Special Session
of the General Assembly, the second special session devoted to disarmament,
in
particular the recommendation that Disarmament Week should continue to be
widely observed,
Noting the support for the further
observance of Disarmament Week
expressed by Member States at the fifteenth special session of the General
Assembly, the third special
session devoted to disarmament,
Recognizing the significance of the annual observance of Disarmament
Week, including by the
United Nations,
1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary- General
on the follow-up measures undertaken
by Governments and non- governmental
organizations in holding Disarmament Week;
2. Commends all States and international
and national governmental and
non-governmental organizations for their active support for and participation
in Disarmament Week;
3. Invites all States that so desire, in carrying out appropriate
measures at the local level on the occasion of Disarmament
Week, to take into
account the elements of the model programme for Disarmament Week prepared by
the Secretary-General;
4.
Invites Governments and international and national non-governmental
organizations to continue to take an active part in Disarmament
Week and to
inform the Secretary-General of the activities undertaken;
5. Invites the Secretary-General to continue to use
the United Nations
information organs as widely as possible to promote better understanding among
the world public of disarmament
problems and the objectives of Disarmament
Week;
6. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fiftieth
session,
the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, the item
entitled "Disarmament Week".
D
Implementation of the guidelines for appropriate types of
confidence-building measures
The General
Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 45/62 F, adopted without a vote on 4 December
1990,
Reconfirming its support for
the guidelines for appropriate types of
confidence-building measures and for the implementation of such measures on a
global or regional
level as endorsed in resolution 43/78 H, adopted without a
vote on 7 December 1988,
Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General
on experience reported by
Member States with the implementation of confidence-building measures,
Noting with satisfaction
the encouraging results of specific
confidence-building measures agreed upon and implemented in some regions and,
in particular,
of measures creating confidence by contributing to disarmament
and arms control and by promoting constraint in the military field,
Realizing with deep concern that at the same time tensions in other
regions rise and that in some places violent armed conflicts
have erupted,
Considering that confidence-building measures, especially when applied in
a comprehensive manner, can be conducive
to achieving structures of security
based on cooperation and openness and thus contribute to the wider objective
of the renunciation
of the threat or use of force,
Welcoming recent progress in the promotion of transparency in the
military field as a cornerstone
for confidence-building through the
finalization in the Disarmament Commission at its 1992 session of its work on
the agenda item
entitled "Objective information on military matters" and
through the inclusion of the item entitled "Transparency in armaments" in
the
agenda of the Conference on Disarmament,
Bearing in mind that confidence-building measures pursued at the regional
level
can contribute to the development of global security,
Pointing to the ongoing elaboration and implementation of confidence-
and
security-building measures within the framework of the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe with a view to building
on the foundations already
laid for cooperative security in Europe,
Aware that there are situations peculiar to specific regions
that have a
bearing on the nature of the confidence-building measures feasible in those
regions,
1. Stresses the need for
the development of confidence-building
measures as a concrete and continuous process to help to prevent the use of
armed force as
a means of resolving political conflicts;
2. Recommends the guidelines for appropriate types of confidence-
building measures
to all States for implementation, taking fully into account
the specific political, military and other conditions prevailing in a
region,
on the basis of initiatives and with the agreement and cooperation of the
States of the region concerned;
3. Also
recommends to all States and regions that have started to
implement confidence-building measures to pursue further and strengthen
this
process;
4. Appeals to all States to consider the widest possible use of
confidence-building measures in their international
relations, including
bilateral, regional and global negotiations, as an important step towards
prevention of conflict and, in times
of political tension and crisis, as an
instrument for peaceful settlement of conflicts;
5. Requests the Conference on Disarmament
to pursue actively its work
on the agenda item entitled "Transparency in armaments", which includes
consideration and elaboration
of universal and non-discriminatory practical
means to increase openness and transparency in military matters;
6. Invites
the Secretary-General to continue to collect relevant
information from all Member States;
7. Appeals to all Member States
that have not yet done so to make their
contribution to the report of the Secretary-General;
8. Decides to include in the
provisional agenda for its forty-ninth
session the item entitled "Implementation of the guidelines for appropriate
types of confidence-building
measures".
E
Report of the Conference on Disarmament
The General Assembly,
Having considered the report of the Conference on Disarmament,
Convinced that the Conference on Disarmament, as the
single multilateral
disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, has the primary
role in substantive negotiations
on priority questions of disarmament,
Considering, in this respect, that the present international climate
should give additional
impetus to multilateral negotiations with the aim of
reaching concrete agreements,
Welcoming the conclusion of negotiations
in the Conference on Disarmament
on the draft Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production,
Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, which has
reaffirmed the need for and the importance of the Conference as the single
multilateral
disarmament negotiating forum of the international community,
Noting with satisfaction the results achieved so far on the
subject of
the improved and effective functioning of the Conference on Disarmament,
including the decision to carry out consultations
on the issues of the
membership and agenda of the Conference, and the decision of the Conference,
to continue the process at its
1993 session,
1. Reaffirms the role of the Conference on Disarmament as the single
multilateral disarmament negotiating
forum of the international community;
2. Welcomes the determination of the Conference on Disarmament to
fulfil that role
in the light of the evolving international situation with a
view to making early substantive progress on priority items of its agenda;
3. Encourages the ongoing review of the agenda, membership and methods
of work of the Conference on Disarmament;
4. Requests the Conference on Disarmament to submit a report on its
work to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session;
5. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-eighth
session the item entitled "Report of the Conference on
Disarmament".
F
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
The General
Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 34/83 M of 11 December 1979, in which it
requested the Secretary-General to establish the
United Nations Institute for
Disarmament Research on the basis of the recommendations contained in the
report of the Secretary-General,
Reaffirming its resolution 39/148 H of 17 December 1984, in which it
approved the Statute of the United Nations Institute
for Disarmament Research,
renewed the invitations to Governments to consider making voluntary
contributions to the Institute and
requested the Secretary-General to continue
to give the Institute administrative and other support,
Recalling also its resolution
42/42 J of 30 November 1987, in which it
took note with appreciation of the report of the Advisory Board on Disarmament
Studies and
noted that the establishment of the Institute offered new
opportunities regarding research in the field of disarmament,
Recalling
further its resolution 45/62 G of 4 December 1990, in which it
requested the Institute to prepare, with the assistance of independent
experts, a research report on the economic aspects of disarmament and to
report to the General Assembly, through the Secretary-General,
at its
forty-seventh session,
Reaffirming the need for the international community to have access to
independent and in-depth
research on disarmament, in particular on emerging
problems and the foreseeable consequences of disarmament,
Noting in this
regard the importance of research on the economic aspects
of disarmament,
Having considered the annual report of the Director
of the Institute and
the report of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters acting in its capacity
as Board of Trustees of the Institute,
1. Welcomes the research report of the United Nations Institute for
Disarmament Research entitled "Economic aspects of disarmament:
disarmament
as an investment process", as transmitted by the Secretary-General to the
General Assembly;
2. Commends the
report to the attention of Member States and encourages
them to give active consideration, in particular, to the economic principles
for disarmament contained in the executive summary of the report;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to give the report the
widest
possible circulation.
G
Review of the implementation of the recommendations
and
decisions adopted by the General Assembly
at its tenth special session
The
General Assembly,
Recalling its decision 47/422 of 9 December 1992, by which it decided to
reconvene meetings of the First
Committee from 8 to 12 March 1993 in order to
reassess the multilateral arms control and disarmament machinery, in
particular the
respective roles of the First Committee, the Disarmament
Commission and the Conference on Disarmament and their interrelationship,
as
well as the role of the Office for Disarmament Affairs, including ways and
means to enhance the functioning and efficiency of
the said machinery, bearing
in mind the competence of the Security Council in those matters,
Taking note of the report of
the Secretary-General entitled "New
dimensions of arms regulation and disarmament in the post-cold-war era",
Taking note
also of the views of Member States on that report,
Taking note further of the report of the Conference on Disarmament on
its consideration of the report of the Secretary-General, as well as its
report on the ongoing review of the agenda, composition
and methods of work of
the Conference,
Recalling the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General
Assembly,
the first special session devoted to disarmament,
Having considered the views expressed by Member States at the resumed
session
of the First Committee on these questions,
Conscious that the new international situation has enhanced the
prospects for
disarmament and arms regulation, which is conducive to further
multilateral efforts in disarmament,
Stressing the need for
the multilateral arms control and disarmament
machinery to respond to the new international situation,
Noting that a review
is being undertaken regarding the allocation of
agenda items to the Main Committees of the General Assembly,
Noting also
the continuing review of the role and resources of the
Office for Disarmament Affairs in order to strengthen its effective
functioning,
Welcoming the Secretary-General's statement of 9 March 1993 that the
Secretariat's capabilities are being strengthened to
enable it to discharge
its responsibilities effectively in the field of disarmament,
Desiring to enhance the effective functioning
of the present
multilateral disarmament machinery,
1. Decides that the First Committee of the General Assembly, in
pursuing
its efforts to respond to the new realities of international
security, should continue to deal with the questions of disarmament
and
related international security issues;
2. Requests the Chairman of the First Committee to continue his
consultations
on the further rationalization of the work and the effective
functioning of the Committee, taking into account all the views and
proposals
presented to the Committee, including those related to the thematic clustering
of agenda items;
3. Reaffirms
the role of the Disarmament Commission as a specialized
deliberative body within the United Nations disarmament machinery, and notes
the progress achieved in its ongoing process of reform;
4. Recommends that every effort be made to continue to enhance
the
working methods of the Disarmament Commission so as to enable it to give
focused consideration to a limited number of priority
issues in the field of
disarmament, and to that end welcomes the decision of the Commission to move
its agenda towards a three-item
phased approach;
5. Notes the fact that the Conference on Disarmament, as the single
global disarmament negotiating forum,
is a body of limited composition taking
its decisions on the basis of consensus and maintains its special status in
relationship
with the United Nations disarmament machinery;
6. Welcomes the fact that the Conference on Disarmament, in addition
to
the review of its composition, has also intensified the review of its
agenda and methods of work, with a view to reaching prompt
decisions on these
questions;
7. Encourages the Conference on Disarmament to reach early agreement
on the expansion of
its membership;
8. Stresses the importance of further enhancing the dialogue and
cooperation among the First Committee,
the Disarmament Commission and the
Conference on Disarmament;
9. Urges the Secretary-General to take concrete steps to
strengthen
the Office for Disarmament Affairs in order to ensure that it has the
necessary means and resources to carry out its mandated
tasks;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to report on those steps to the
General Assembly at its forty-eighth session;
11. Decides to review these questions at its forty-eighth session.
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