Global Security Newswire

The international Conference on Disarmament is set to convene its first general membership meeting of 2012 next Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations announced (see GSN, Jan. 12).

Ecuador is on deck to lead the plenary session as president for the first four weeks of meetings. Other nations set to hold the rotating leadership this year are Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France and Germany.

The 65-member nation disarmament body under its guiding rules "shall adopt its agenda for the year at the beginning of the session," according to a U.N. press release.

"In doing so, the conference shall take into account the recommendations made to it by the United Nations General Assembly, the proposals by its members, and decisions of the conference," according to the guidelines.

The U.N. General Assembly last year urged the multilateral body to overcome a decade-old impasse that has prevented initiation of any negotiations for new international disarmament pacts (see GSN, Dec. 5, 2011).

The conference seemingly broke the deadlock in 2009, agreeing to a work plan that would include beginning negotiations on a treaty banning the generation of new fissile material for nuclear weapons purposes; nuclear disarmament; a ban on space-based weapons; and a promise by nuclear-weapon nations not to use such arms against countries without nuclear deterrents of their own. After initially supporting the work plan, Pakistan moved to unilaterally block the program, contending it would be harmed by a prohibition on new warhead-grade material. The conference operates on the basis of consensus.

Back on the agenda this year are ending nations' buildup of nuclear arms; nuclear disarmament; preventing the use of nuclear weapons in conflict; banning armaments in space; attaining a pledge from states not to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear-armed nations; dealing with evolving unconventional weapons and their modes of delivery; radiological arms; and encouraging more transparency of national stockpiles (United Nations release, Jan. 19).