United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/69/77

Sixty-ninth session

Agenda item 98 (b)

The General Assembly,

Having considered the report of the Disarmament Commission,

Recalling its resolutions 47/54 A of 9 December 1992, 47/54 G of 8 April 1993, 48/77 A of 16 December 1993, 49/77 A of 15 December 1994, 50/72 D of 12 December 1995, 51/47 B of 10 December 1996, 52/40 B of 9 December 1997, 53/79 A of 4 December 1998, 54/56 A of 1 December 1999, 55/35 C of 20 November 2000, 56/26 A of 29 November 2001, 57/95 of 22 November 2002, 58/67 of 8 December 2003, 59/105 of 3 December 2004, 60/91 of 8 December 2005, 61/98 of 6 December 2006, 62/54 of 5 December 2007, 63/83 of 2 December 2008, 64/65 of 2 December 2009, 65/86 of 8 December 2010, 66/60 of 2 December 2011, 67/71 of 3 December 2012 and 68/63 of 5 December 2013,

Considering the role that the Disarmament Commission has been called upon to play and the contribution that it should make in examining and submitting recommendations on various problems in the field of disarmament and in promoting the implementation of the relevant decisions adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth special session,

Recalling in particular General Assembly resolution 45/62 B of 4 December 1990, in which it noted with satisfaction the adoption by consensus of a set of “Ways and means to enhance the functioning of the Disarmament Commission”, Assembly decision 52/492 of 8 September 1998 concerning the efficient functioning of the Commission and Assembly resolution 61/98, which contains additional measures for improving the effectiveness of the methods of work of the Commission,

Reaffirming the mandate of the Disarmament Commission as the specialized, deliberative subsidiary body of the General Assembly that allows for in-depth deliberations on specific disarmament issues, leading to the submission of concrete recommendations on those issues, and recalling that the Commission shall make every effort to ensure that, in so far as possible, decisions on substantive issues be adopted by consensus, as set forth in paragraph 118 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly,

Emphasizing once again the important place of the Disarmament Commission within the United Nations multilateral disarmament machinery,

1. Takes note of the report of the Disarmament Commission;

2. Reaffirms the importance of further enhancing the dialogue and cooperation among the First Committee, the Disarmament Commission and the Conference on Disarmament, notes that the Commission has not submitted any substantive recommendations to the General Assembly in the course of the past 15 years, and thus encourages the revitalization of the work of the Commission in its upcoming triennial cycle;

3. Emphasizes the need for a focused and results-oriented discussion on the items on the agenda of the Disarmament Commission;

4. Requests the Disarmament Commission to continue its work in accordance with its mandate, as set forth in paragraph 118 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, and with paragraph 3 of Assembly resolution 37/78 H of 9 December 1982 and to that end to make every effort to achieve specific recommendations on the items on its agenda, taking into account the adopted “Ways and means to enhance the functioning of the Disarmament Commission”;

5. Recommends that the Disarmament Commission intensify consultations with a view to reaching agreement on the items on its agenda, in accordance with General Assembly decision 52/492, before the start of its substantive session of 2015, providing for focused deliberations and keeping in mind the proposal to include a third agenda item;

6. Encourages the Disarmament Commission to invite, as appropriate, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research to prepare background papers on the items on its agenda and, if need be, other disarmament experts to present their views, as provided for in paragraph 3 (e) of resolution 61/98, upon the invitation of the Chair and with the prior approval of the Commission;

7. Requests the Disarmament Commission to meet for a period not exceeding three weeks during 2015, namely from 6 to 24 April, and to submit a substantive report to the General Assembly at its seventieth session, and stresses that the report of the Commission should contain a summary by the Chair of the proceedings to reflect different views or positions if no agreement can be reached on the specific agenda item deliberated on, as provided for in paragraph 3.4 of the adopted “Ways and means to enhance the functioning of the Disarmament Commission”;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure full provision to the Disarmament Commission and its subsidiary bodies of interpretation and translation facilities in the official languages and to assign, as a matter of priority, all the resources and services necessary, including verbatim records, to that end, and also requests the Secretary-General to transmit to the Commission the annual report of the Conference on Disarmament on its 2014 session, together with all the official records of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly relating to disarmament matters, and to render all assistance that the Commission may require for implementing the present resolution;

9. Invites Member States to submit their views and proposals on the matter early enough to enable practical consultations among them prior to the beginning of the substantive session of 2015 of the Disarmament Commission, with a view to facilitating its constructive outcome, and in this regard encourages the Chair-designate to commence consultations and preparations for the substantive session of 2015 in a timely manner upon his or her nomination;

10. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventieth session, under the item entitled “Review of the implementation of the recommendations and decisions adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth special session”, the sub item entitled “Report of the Disarmament Commission”.

62nd plenary meeting 2 December 2014