DC/2727

THIRD SECTION OF UNITED NATIONS 2000 PROGRAMME OF DISARMAMENT FELLOWSHIPS BEGINS IN NEW YORK

Young Diplomats from 28 Countries to Study Work of First Committee

NEW YORK, 16 October (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -� The third segment of the 2000 Disarmament Fellowship Programme began yesterday at United Nations Headquarters. It will continue for three and a half weeks, with the participation of young diplomats from 28 Member States of the Organization. (The programme started in Geneva on 4 September.)

The New York segment is intended primarily to expose the Disarmament Fellows to the work of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) of the General Assembly. The Fellows are to be briefed by members of delegations to the Committee and by United Nations officials, including the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, on items on the agenda of the Committee. They will attend meetings of the Committee.

In addition, the Fellows will continue the practical exercise that began in Geneva on the drafting, introduction and debate on draft resolutions as carried out in the First Committee. They will also be concluding the individual research papers that they are required to prepare in the course of the Programme, on a topic of their choice relating to disarmament and security.

Taking part in the 2000 Disarmament Fellowship Programme are diplomats from the following 28 Member States are: Algeria, Armenia, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, United States and Zambia.

The Geneva segment of the Programme, from 4 to 22 September, was primarily aimed at exposing the Fellows to multilateral negotiations undertaken by the Conference on Disarmament. They attended meetings of the Conference, and a cycle of lectures by senior diplomats and United Nations officials.

Between 25 September and 13 October, the Fellows participated in study trips to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Preparatory Commission for the

- 2 - Press Release DC/2727 17 October 2000

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna. They also visited Germany and Japan, at the invitation of the respective Governments.

The United Nations Disarmament Fellowship Programme was launched by the General Assembly in 1978. It aims at the training of national officials in more Member States, particularly in the developing countries, in the field of disarmament and at enabling them to participate more effectively in international deliberating and negotiating forums. The Programme, implemented by the Department for Disarmament Affairs, has trained more than 525 officials from some 150 countries in the 22 years of its existence. Many of them are now in positions of responsibility in the field of disarmament within their own governments.

The current Programme will conclude at United Nations Headquarters on 3 November, after a ceremony at the end of the previous afternoon�s meeting of the First Committee, at which certificates of participation, signed by the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, will be presented to the Fellows by the First Committee Chairman, Mya Than of Myanmar.

* *** *
United Nations