United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/69/71

Sixty-ninth session

Agenda item 97 (a)

The General Assembly,

Recalling its decision taken in 1982 at its twelfth special session, the second special session devoted to disarmament, by which the World Disarmament Campaign was launched,

Bearing in mind its resolution 47/53 D of 9 December 1992, in which it decided, inter alia, that the World Disarmament Campaign should be known thereafter as the “United Nations Disarmament Information Programme” and the World Disarmament Campaign Voluntary Trust Fund as the “Voluntary Trust Fund for the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme”,

Recalling its resolutions 51/46 A of 10 December 1996, 53/78 E of 4 December 1998, 55/34 A of 20 November 2000, 57/90 of 22 November 2002, 59/103 of 3 December 2004, 61/95 of 6 December 2006, 63/81 of 2 December 2008, 65/81 of 8 December 2010 and 67/67 of 3 December 2012,

Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General,

1. Commends the Secretary-General for his efforts to make effective use of the limited resources available to him in disseminating, as widely as possible, information on arms control and disarmament to Governments, the media, non governmental organizations, educational communities and research institutes and in carrying out a seminar and conference programme;

2. Stresses the importance of the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme as a significant instrument in enabling all Member States to participate fully in the deliberations and negotiations on disarmament in the various United Nations bodies, in assisting them in complying with treaties, as required, and in contributing to agreed mechanisms for transparency;

3. Commends with satisfaction the launch of The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook for 2012 and 2013, as well as its online editions, by the Office for Disarmament Affairs of the Secretariat;

4. Notes with appreciation the cooperation of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat and its information centres in pursuit of the objectives of the Programme;

5. Recommends that the Programme continue to inform, educate and generate public understanding of the importance of multilateral action and support for it, including action by the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament, in the field of arms control and disarmament, in a factual, balanced and objective manner, and that it focus its efforts:


 * (a) To continue to publish The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, the flagship publication of the Office for Disarmament Affairs, in all official languages, as well as its Occasional Papers, Study Series and other ad hoc information materials in accordance with the current practice;


 * (b) To continue to update the disarmament website as a part of the United Nations website in as many official languages as feasible;


 * (c) To promote the use of the Programme as a means to provide information related to progress in the implementation of nuclear disarmament measures;


 * (d) To continue to intensify United Nations interaction with the public, principally non-governmental organizations and research institutes, to help further an informed debate on topical issues of arms limitation, disarmament and security;


 * (e) To continue to organize discussions on topics of interest in the field of arms limitation and disarmament with a view to broadening understanding and facilitating an exchange of views and information among Member States and civil society;

6. Recognizes the importance of all support extended to the Voluntary Trust Fund for the United Nations Disarmament Information Programme, and once again invites all Member States to make further contributions to the Fund with a view to sustaining a strong outreach programme;

7. Takes note of the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General on disarmament and non-proliferation education, which reviews the implementation of the recommendations made in the 2002 study on disarmament and non-proliferation education;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session a report covering both the implementation of the activities of the Programme by the United Nations system during the previous two years and the activities of the Programme contemplated by the system for the following two years;

9. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-first session, under the item entitled “Review and implementation of the Concluding Document of the Twelfth Special Session of the General Assembly”, the sub-item entitled “United Nations Disarmament Information Programme”.

62nd plenary meeting 2 December 2014