First Committee Opens Eighty-first Session, Fails to Approve Programme of Work, Holds Revitalization Debate

First Committee Opens Eighty-first Session, Fails to Approve Programme of Work, Holds Revitalization Debate

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today failed to approve its work programme for the eighty-first session, but held a debate on revitalization of the the Gemeral Assembly's work as well as programme planning.

Committee Chair Lok Bahadur Thapa (Nepal) recalled that a nomination remained pending for Vice-Chair from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States. The Committee then proceeded to elect Claxton Duberry (Antigua and Barbuda) to this post by acclamation.

Mr. Duberry joins two other Vice-Chairs, Arsen Kotanjyan (Armenia) and Faisal Abdelazim Salim Mohamed (Sudan), and the Rapporteur, Kim Van der Sluis (Netherlands), on the Committee's Bureau.

Committee to Have 28 Meetings until 3 November

Introducing the programme of work (document A/C.1/81/1), with 21 agenda items allocated to the Committee by the General Assembly, and the timetable (documents A/C.1/81/CRP.1 and A/C.1/81/CRP.2), the Chair pledged that the Committee will maintain its established practice of conducting its work in three phases and 28 meetings.

The general debate on all agenda items will run from 6 to 15 October for a total of nine meetings, he said, followed by thematic discussions on specific subjects from 16 to 26 October, for a total of 12 meetings.

"The Committee will take up the seven clusters on which it has traditionally focused during this phase of its work, namely: nuclear weapons; other weapons of mass destruction; outer space (disarmament aspects); conventional weapons; other disarmament measures and international security; regional disarmament and security; and disarmament machinery," he said.

Finally, action on all draft resolutions and decisions will take place from 27 October to 3 November, for a total of six meetings, he said.

The Chair underscored that speakers must adhere to time limits established for statements - 7 minutes in a national capacity and 10 minutes on behalf of groups of delegations. He reminded delegates that there will be an automatic cut-off of microphones once the time limit is reached.

Committee Holds "Limitless Discussion" on Time Limits

In the ensuing discussion on the proposed programme of work and time limits, the Russian Federation's representative, noting that the duration of speeches was reduced from 12 minutes for groups and 8 minutes for national statements, stressed that such reductions were adopted last year as a one-time measure, not a precedent. Some speeches were forcibly cut short to "slogans and political accusations" he said, calling for a return to the practice of the seventy-ninth session.

Moscow's position was supported by the representatives of Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mali, Belarus, China and Burkina Faso. China's delegate suggested that the reduced time limits should only applied to those countries supporting such limits.

In contrast, the representative of the United States praised the Committee for reducing time limits and completing its work last year in 20 business days. Calling for "fewer unnecessary rights of reply" and more bi- and triannual resolutions instead of annual ones, he pledged to continue the fight for reform.

His position and proposed programme of work with shorter speeches were supported by the representatives of the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Belgium, France, Romania, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Germany, Egypt, South Africa, Greece, New Zealand (also on behalf of Canada and Australia), Mexico, Nigeria, Italy, Estonia, Republic of Korea and Latvia. Additionally, the representative of South Africa, echoed by his Italian colleague, emphasized that different subject matters may require revised time limits, calling for flexibility.

While Nicaragua's delegate encouraged consensus, Senegal's representative highlighted the problem facing small delegations, who struggle to participate in all discussions. Cuba's delegate urged the Committee to move to substantive discussions, while Namibia's representative proposed suspending today's meeting and increasing each limit by one minute.

The delegate for Tunisia pointed to the current "limitless discussion to discuss our time limits". Algeria's representative, supporting Tunisia and Namibia, called for a compromise.

The Chair reminded delegates that the same discussion took place in the Bureau several months ago. He asked the Committee to discuss the agenda items but continue consultations on the programme of work.

Debating Revitalization, Speakers Call for Efficiency, Flexibility

The Committee then convened its debate on "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly" and "Programme planning".

The representative of New Zealand, speaking also on behalf of Canada and Australia, called for greater efficiency and reform of the United Nations system, as "resolutions that remain static for years" lead to "diluted focus".

On behalf of the African Group, Namibia's representative supported the Committee's programme of work but warned about the possible negative consequences of further reduction of time limits for speeches.

Mexico's delegate, noting the 10 per cent reduction in number of meetings scheduled for the Main Committees, underscored the need for flexibility in organizing work, including time limits for statements and exercise of the right of reply. "Genuine revitalization cannot be limited to simply reorganizing the First Committee's timetable," he said.