A/C.1/70/L.13

United Nations

General AssemblyDistr.: Limited
20 October 2015
Original: English

Seventieth session

First Committee
Agenda item 97 (bb)General and complete disarmament: taking forward
multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations
Austria, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya,
Liechtenstein, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama,Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela(Bolivarian Republic of): draft resolution

Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 67/56 of 3 December 2012, 68/46 of 5 December
2013 and 69/41 of 2 December 2014 on taking forward multilateral nuclear
disarmament negotiations for the achievement and maintenance of a world without
nuclear weapons,
Deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any
use of nuclear weapons,
Recalling the Declaration of the Tenth Special Session of the General
Assembly, the first special session devoted to disarmament, 1 in which it is stated,inter alia, that all the peoples of the world have a vital interest in the success of
disarmament negotiations and that all States have the right to participate indisarmament negotiations,Reaffirming the role and functions of the Conference on Disarmament and theDisarmament Commission, as set out in the Final Document of the Tenth Special
Session of the General Assembly, 2Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 3 in which it is stated,inter alia, that responsibility for managing worldwide economic and socialdevelopment, as well as threats to international peace and security, must be shared
among the nations of the world and should be exercised multilaterally and that, as__________________
1

Resolution S-10/2, sect. II.
Ibid., sect. IV.
3
Resolution 55/2.
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the most universal and most representative organization in the world, the United
Nations must play the central role,
Welcoming the efforts of Member States to secure progress in multilateraldisarmament and the support of the Secretary-General for such efforts, and recallingin this regard the Secretary-General’s five-point proposal on nuclear disarmament,
Recalling the outcome, including the action points, of the 2010 ReviewConference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, 4Reaffirming the absolute validity of multilateral diplomacy in the field of
disarmament and non-proliferation, and determined to promote multilateralism as an
essential way to develop arms regulation and disarmament negotiations,
Recognizing the absence of concrete outcomes of multilateral nuclear
disarmament negotiations within the United Nations framework for almost twodecades,
Recognizing also that the current international climate makes increased
political attention to disarmament and non-proliferation issues, the promotion ofmultilateral disarmament and moving towards a world without nuclear weapons all
the more urgent,Welcoming the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear
disarmament, held on 26 September 2013 pursuant to its resolution 67/39 of
3 December 2012, which highlighted the wish of the international community for
progress in this field, and noting its resolution 68/32 of 5 December 2013 as afollow-up to this meeting,Welcoming also the report on the work of the Open-ended Working Group to
develop proposals to take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament nego tiations forthe achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons, submitted
pursuant to its resolution 67/56 5 and referenced in its resolution 68/46, and thereport of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to its resolution 68/46, 6
containing the views of Member States on how to take forward multilateral nuclear
disarmament negotiations, including the steps that Member States have alreadytaken to that end,
Welcoming further the efforts by all Member States, internationalorganizations and civil society to continue to enrich the discussions on how to takeforward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations in the United Nations bodies
in which disarmament and peace and security are addressed, taking into account thereport of the Open-ended Working Group and the proposals contained therein,
Stressing the importance of inclusiveness, and welcoming the participation of
all Member States in the efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons,
Recognizing the important contribution that international organizations, civilsociety, academia and research make to multilateral disarmament, non -proliferation
and arms control processes,__________________
42010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non -Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, Final Document, vols. I-III (NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vols. I-III)).
5
A/68/514.
6
A/69/154 and Add.1.

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Emphasizing the importance and urgency of substantive progress on priority
disarmament and non-proliferation issues,
Mindful of Article 11 of the Charter of the United Nations concerning thefunctions and powers of the General Assembly to consider and makerecommendations with regard to, inter alia, disarmament,
1.
Reiterates that the universal objective of taking forward multilateralnuclear disarmament negotiations remains the achievement and maintenance of aworld without nuclear weapons, and emphasizes the importance of addressing issues
related to nuclear weapons in a comprehensive, inclusive, interactive andconstructive manner, for the advancement of multilateral nuclear disarmament
negotiations;2.
Reaffirms the urgency of securing substantive progress in multilateral
nuclear disarmament negotiations, and to this end decides to establish an open ended working group to negotiate with a view to reaching agreement on concreteand effective legal measures to achieve nuclear disarmament, in particular new legal
provisions and norms to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons;3.
Decides that the working group shall also formulate recommendations onother measures that could contribute to taking forward multilateral nuclear
disarmament negotiations, including but not limited to transparency measuresrelated to the risks associated with existing nuclear weapons, measures to reduceand eliminate the risk of accidental, mistaken, unauthorized or intentional nuclear
weapon detonations, and additional measures to increase awareness andunderstanding of the complexity of and relationship between the wide range ofhumanitarian consequences that would result from any nuclear detonation;
4.

Invites all Member States to participate in the working group;

5.
Decides that the working group shall convene in Geneva in 2016, as a
subsidiary body of the General Assembly and under its rules of procedure, for up to
15 working days, within available time frames, with the participation andcontribution of international organizations and civil society, in accordance withestablished practice, and shall hold its organizational session as soon as possible;
6.
Also decides that the working group shall submit a report on its work,
reflecting the negotiations and its recommendations, to the General Assembly at its
seventy-first session, which will assess its work, taking into account developments
in other relevant forums;
7.
Requests the Secretary-General to provide, within available resources,
the support necessary to convene the working group;
8.
Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-first session,under the item entitled “General and complete disarma ment”, the sub-item entitled“Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations”.

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