The following statement was written by Canadian Pugwash Group board member Paul Meyer to draw attention to the lack of advancement in the First Committee on the SSOD (Special Session on Disarmament) agenda. It was also published in Reaching Critical Will’s First Committee Monitor No.5.
As the SCRAP disarmament group notes: As a vocal advocate for the cause of activating the UN Fourth Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD-IV), Amb. (Ret’d) Meyer has been a key figure in our efforts in drafting our Open Letter calling the UNGA to activate an SSOD which has been undersigned by about 150 people and organisations.
Dithering over Disarmament – Why we need a PrepCom for SSOD IV
The convening of the UN’s fourth special session for disarmament (SSOD IV) has become something of a multilateral mirage. Everyone has agreed that it should take place, but when it is approached it fades into the distance, ever out of reach. This state of affairs is not, however, a result of some optical illusion, but a product of deliberate procrastination.
It has been seven years since an Open-Ended Working Group issued a consensus report setting out the objectives and agenda for SSOD IV (the last such special session dates back to 1988). The report, however, left the decision on initiating preparations for the special session to the UN General Assembly. Ever since, Indonesia has been the lead sponsor of an annual resolution that “reiterates its conviction that a special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament can set the future course of action in the field of disarmament, arms control, non-proliferation and related international security matters.” The resolution’s operative paragraphs, however, do not provide for the start of preparations for the special session. Instead the resolution limits itself to “encourag[ing] member states to continue consultations on the next steps for the convening of the fourth special session.”
There is no evidence that any such consultations are actually being held and Indonesia has not indicated that it has ever initiated such consultations or reported on their results. One need not be a cynic of multilateralism to conclude that this nod to further “consultations” is a cop-out and a substitute for concrete action. This sort of sham diplomacy discredits the entire multilateral disarmament enterprise.
UN Secretary-General Guterres recognised the need to “review and reform” the UN’s disarmament machinery in his input to the Summit of the Future. The outcome document from that event, the “Pact for the Future,” recommended that the General Assembly “pursue work that could support preparation of a fourth special session”—albeit a rather diluted version of the direction contained in the penultimate version of the Pact “to start preparations” for SSOD IV. Civil Society also issued an eloquent plea for states to get serious about initiating preparations for SSOD IV in its October 16 statement to the First Committee.
A fourth special session will not be a panacea for the current malaise of multilateral disarmament, but it could afford an opportunity to submit the existing arrangement to critical scrutiny and prompt remedial action to render the machinery more productive. We will never know what SSOD IV could produce as long as states are content to kick the can down First Avenue. If Indonesia is not ready to take meaningful action on the convening of SSOD IV, it should past its leadership baton on the issue to another Non-Aligned Movement member state who will.
Paul Meyer
Canadian Pugwash Group/Simon Fraser University