United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/69/72

Sixty-ninth session

Agenda item 97 (f)

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 41/60 J of 3 December 1986, 42/39 K of 30 November 1987 and 43/76 H of 7 December 1988 on the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, with headquarters in Lima,

Recalling also its resolution 68/60 of 5 December 2013, as well as all previous resolutions entitled “United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean”,

Recognizing that the Regional Centre has continued to provide substantive support for the implementation of regional and subregional initiatives and has intensified its contribution to the coordination of United Nations efforts towards peace and disarmament and for the promotion of economic and social development,

Reaffirming the mandate of the Regional Centre to provide, on request, substantive support for the initiatives and other activities of the Member States of the region for the implementation of measures for peace and disarmament and for the promotion of economic and social development,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General, and expressing its appreciation for the important assistance provided, upon request, by the Regional Centre to several countries in the region, including through capacity-building and technical assistance programmes, as well as outreach activities, to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, ammunition and explosives, for the development of plans to reduce and prevent armed violence from an arms control perspective, for promoting and supporting the implementation of relevant agreements and treaties and for capacity-building initiatives aimed at bolstering the efforts of the law enforcement community to combat the illicit trade in firearms,

Welcoming the support provided by the Regional Centre to Member States in the implementation of disarmament and non-proliferation instruments,

Emphasizing the need for the Regional Centre to develop and strengthen its activities and programmes in a comprehensive and balanced manner, in accordance with its mandate and in line with the requests for assistance by Member States,

Welcoming the ongoing support provided by the Regional Centre to Member States in the implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects,

Welcoming also the assistance provided by the Regional Centre to some States, upon request, in the management and securing of national weapons stockpiles and in the identification and destruction of surplus, obsolete or seized weapons and ammunition, as declared by competent national authorities,

Welcoming further the initiative of the Regional Centre to continue to conduct activities in line with efforts to promote the equitable representation of women in all decision-making processes with regard to matters related to disarmament, non proliferation and arms control, as encouraged in its resolutions 65/69 of 8 December 2010, 67/48 of 3 December 2012 and 68/33 of 5 December 2013,

Recalling the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on the relationship between disarmament and development, referred to in General Assembly resolution 59/78 of 3 December 2004, which is of utmost interest with regard to the role that the Regional Centre plays in promoting the issue in the region in pursuit of its mandate to promote economic and social development related to peace and disarmament,

Noting that security, disarmament and development issues have always been recognized as significant topics in Latin America and the Caribbean, the first inhabited region in the world to be declared a nuclear-weapon-free zone,

Emphasizing the importance of maintaining the support provided by the Regional Centre for strengthening the nuclear-weapon-free zone established by the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco), as well as its efforts in promoting peace and disarmament education,

Bearing in mind the important role of the Regional Centre in promoting confidence-building measures, arms control and limitation, disarmament and development at the regional level,

Recognizing the importance of information, research, education and training for peace, disarmament and development in order to achieve understanding and cooperation among States,

1. Reiterates its strong support for the role of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean in the promotion of activities of the United Nations at the regional and subregional levels to strengthen peace, disarmament, stability, security and development among its Member States;

2. Expresses its satisfaction at the activities carried out in the past year by the Regional Centre, and requests the Centre to continue to take into account the proposals to be submitted by the countries of the region for the implementation of the mandate of the Centre in the areas of peace, disarmament and development and for the promotion of, inter alia, nuclear disarmament, the prevention, combating and eradication of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, ammunition and explosives, confidence-building measures, arms control and limitation, transparency, and the reduction and prevention of armed violence at the regional and subregional levels;

3. Expresses its appreciation for the political support provided by Member States, as well as for the financial contributions made by Member States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations and foundations, to strengthen the Regional Centre, its programme of activities and the implementation thereof, and encourages them to continue to make and to increase voluntary contributions;

4. Invites all States of the region to continue to take part in the activities of the Regional Centre, proposing items for inclusion in its programme of activities and maximizing the potential of the Centre to meet the current challenges facing the international community with a view to fulfilling the aims of the Charter of the United Nations in the areas of peace, disarmament and development;

5. Recognizes that the Regional Centre has an important role in the promotion and development of regional and subregional initiatives agreed upon by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the field of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, and conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons, in the relationship between disarmament and development, in the promotion of the participation of women in this field and in strengthening voluntary confidence-building measures among the countries of the region;

6. Encourages the Regional Centre to further develop activities in all countries of the region in the important areas of peace, disarmament and development and to provide, upon request and in accordance with its mandate, support to Member States of the region in the national implementation of relevant instruments, inter alia, the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and the Arms Trade Treaty, as well as in the implementation of the Caribbean 1540 programme on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its seventieth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

8. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventieth 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 Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

62nd plenary meeting 2 December 2014