DYB2011-Part-II-web

Regional disarmament
a joint press statement14 issued on 14 October, the United Nations Secretary-
General and the Governments of the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom
and the United States, as co-sponsors of the 1995 resolution proposing
a Middle East free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, 15
announced the appointment of Jaakko Laajava (Finland) as facilitator of the
Conference and the designation of Finland as the host Government for the
Conference.
In November, the additional protocols of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) entered into force for all the States parties to the
Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia (CANWFZ) 16 when
Kyrgyzstan concluded the procedures for its adherence (following Uzbekistan
in 1998, Tajikistan in 2004, Turkmenistan in 2006 and Kazakhstan in 2007). 17
The CANWFZ Treaty is the only NWFZ treaty that requires each State
party to conclude an additional protocol with the IAEA (in addition to its
comprehensive safeguards system).
From 21 to 22 November, the Director General of the IAEA convened
the Forum on Experience of Possible Relevance to the Creation of a Nuclear-
Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East, which was attended by representatives
from more than 100 countries. The Forum provided a unique opportunity
for interactive discussions on the lessons learned in establishing NWFZs.
The IAEA mandate for holding this event stems from a decision adopted in
2000 by the IAEA General Conference, 18 which had requested the Director
General, inter alia, to develop an agenda and modalities to help ensure
a successful forum on the relevance of the experience of existing NWFZs,
including confidence-building and verification measures, for establishing a
zone in the Middle East free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of
mass destruction.
The principal focus of the Forum was to: (a) study the lessons of other
regions regarding the regional setting and context that had prevailed there before
they began considering an NWFZ; (b) review the existing multilaterally agreed
principles for establishing NWFZs in populated areas of the world; (c) review
the theory and practice of establishing the five existing NWFZs; (d) discuss with
14 Joint statement, New York, 14 October 2011. Available from http://www.un.org/News/Press/
docs/2011/sg2180.doc.htm (accessed 13 June 2012).
15 NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I), annex.
16 Treaty text and adherence status are available from http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/.
17 See address by the delegation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Vienna, 21-22
November 2011 (available from http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/iaeanwfz/
canwfzt211111.pdf (accessed 13 June 2012)). See also IAEA, “Status List: Conclusion of
safeguards agreements, additional protocols and small quantities protocols”, 1 June 2012
(available from http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/SV/Safeguards/documents/sir_table.pdf
(accessed 13 June 2012)).
18 IAEA, “Application of IAEA Safeguards in the Middle East”, document GC(44)/DEC/12.
Available from http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC44/Resolutions/gc44dec12.pdf
(accessed 13 June 2012).
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