Disarmament.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has announced plans to establish a new Department for Disarmament and Arms Regulation. Under its proposed mandate, the Department would as a priority develop strategies and policies to prevent the proliferation of all types of weapons and control the flow of conventional weapons to areas of conflict. Before issuing his proposal, Mr. Annan asked his Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters to "explore the security challenges that lie ahead in the twenty-first century" and re-evaluate the role of the Organization in achieving "the overarching goal of an international system in which security and stability for all will prevail".

In a wide-ranging conversation held just before the Board submitted its report, its Chairman, Ambassador Mitsuro Donowaki of Japan, told the UN Chronicle that"the United Nations role in disarmament, rather than decreasing, is going to increase despite the end of the cold war".

Weapons of mass destruction 

"Of course, we don't foresee a global nuclear confrontation. That possibility has definitely decreased. Moreover, in the last four or five years, we have seen the conclusion of the CTBT (Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty), the indefinite extension of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), as well as the conclusion of the CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention). But all these treaties related to weapons of mass destruction, including the Biological Weapons Convention, assign the United Nations specific roles" in cases of serious non-compliance, Mr. Donowaki stated.

"It was already decided at the 1992 Security Council Summit that a serious violation of the NPT may be brought to the attention of the Council. And the CTBT and the CWC both have similar provisions. Of course, they have to try to settle the problems of compliance first within their respective organizations; but if a serious issue develops which those organizations can't handle, then it will have to be brought before the United Nations."

The nuclear Powers had a basic responsibility to make a greater effort, Mr. Donowaki stressed. Unlike conventional arms, the future production of nuclear weapons "is almost stopped. The problem now is how to dismantle existing ones, how to reduce them, how to detarget them. These are the major concerns. Then comes the question of how to safeguard nuclear technologies and materials, to keep them from proliferating and getting into the hands of terrorists or rogue States."

Here, again, the importance of implementing existing arrangements becomes very important, according to the Chairman. As for the future objective of achieving the total elimination of nuclear weapons, while it "would be the ideal, it [would be] quite a long-term ideal" requiring the negotiation of a new agreement. "And, of course, the UN will have to continue to play a role which will encourage such developments."

He underscored that countries from the Non-Aligned Movement on the Advisory Board "insist that the importance of nuclear disarmament should never be downgraded. It has been on the agenda for 20 years now."

`Practical' disarmament

In the case of conventional arms, the United Nations was also assuming an increasingly important role, in particular, given that "the security of nations can no longer be defended by military capability alone", Mr. Donowaki explained. This had become especially evident within the last decade, as the nature of conflicts began to change. Most were no longer between countries, but rather intra-State. In some cases, the central government had ceased to function.

In addition, due in part to growing economic globalization, borders "are becoming meaningless", the Chairman said. One by-product of the increasing porousness of national borders was the new seriousness that had to be attached to old security threats: illicit arms trafficking ballooning as it was becoming harder to interdict; and terrorist acts originating among constantly shifting sources, from political factions to powerful criminal cartels.

"Under such changing circumstances, disarmament and arms control has to take on a more integrated approach", Mr. Donowaki stressed. The international community needs to employ "not just disarmament related measures alone, but these allied with economic assistance, with encouraging the democratic process of government, as opposed to settling disputes by fighting, with ensuring justice, law, order and economic and social development. You have to address the root causes of conflicts in combination with arms control measures. Otherwise, these problems cannot be resolved," he declared, adding that the United Nations role should be to integrate these various aspects of disarmament.

This was beginning to be called "practical" disarmament, the Ambassador said. The collaborative efforts of the various United Nations offices towards a sustainable and stable security situation in Mali were a pioneering experiment which was already being extended to other parts of West Africa. "There, the Department of Political Affairs, UNIDIR (United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research), UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), even UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), are putting their efforts together to work out a programme for reducing the flood of weapons. And this example may have to be applied to other similar regions where conflicts are over", but much remains to be done to ensure the peace.

Arms register and landmines

Mr. Donowaki, who also serves as the Chairman of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms, said another area where the United Nations plays a unique and valuable role in arms control was its Register of Conventional Arms, now in its fifth year of operation. "Participation in the Register is always above 90 [States reporting], and we anticipate it may surpass 100 as early as this year. Also, more than 90 per cent of arms trade is captured by the Register. This makes it a rare success--and one for the United Nations--in promoting the confidence of other nations, as well as in promoting transparency in military matters. And it is a global confidence-building measure." The Expert Panel was in the process of reviewing the Register's operation, "perhaps to expand its scope a bit".

Regarding landmines, there were two parallel efforts towards a total ban under way: the Ottawa Process and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. The Ottawa Process is limited to those States that are ready to adopt a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel landmines in December this year. Negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament have the potential of attracting universal adherence in that they involve States that are not yet ready to agree to a total ban. United Nations efforts are twofold, "... preventing the future proliferation, production and use of landmines and dealing with the consequences of existing and past proliferation. You have to prevent, but you also have to clean up, `demine'."

"The UN is very much involved in that aspect", he said. If the convention currently being negotiated in Ottawa were agreed to, the United Nations would become the depository and would also have some of the verification and compliance activities entrusted to it. That would include making existing minefields safe and reducing landmine inventories. The Organization was already involved in mine clearance and awareness activities in its peacekeeping operations.

Noting that the issue of small arms was similar, Mr. Donowaki said, "Those questions--how to prevent future proliferation and how to reduce already existing small arms or mines--are two aspects" that have to be approached in a coordinated, integrated fashion if they are to be successful.

As to the fact that some States have argued that a total ban on anti-personnel landmines was not realistic, he added: "We have to keep trying. It's a slow process. It has to be a step-by-step process."

Peacekeeping and disarmament

Asked by the UN Chronicle about the increased use of disarmament measures in peacekeeping operations, and the difficulties involved in trying to disarm rival factions that can number a dozen or more, Mr. Donowaki explained: "You cannot disarm these factions unless former combatants are given new work. They need job training. They have to be reinserted into civilian society. And you cannot simply disarm them or buy back weapons unless there is a government in place which can ensure security for its people. So, disarmament alone will not do the job. You have to bring in the cooperation of the donor community. You have to bring in the expertise of UNDP and other development assistance experts. You have to promote the democratic process through elections. You have to train the police, customs officials, etc. It is only under these conditions that weapons and troops can be disarmed and demobilized. It's a very difficult task. It costs money. And as the UN doesn't have the money, it has to appeal to the donor community.

Looking at the successful experiment of the United Nations in Mali and West Africa, the Chairman said that, in the past, there had in fact been a reluctance on the part of donor community to extend assistance that was related to internal security purposes, as such assistance was seen as being easily mis-used. However, there was now a new trend, which held that an impartial third party could successfully oversee the process. "We think that the United Nations can play such a part", he stressed.

`Revving up' disarmament

"We know the UN's budget has to be reduced and that the Organization should be streamlined, but, within available resources, ways should be found to `rev up' this Centre or Department dealing with matters of arms control and disarmament. The person heading it should be upgraded, the staff increased, resources increased, despite current difficulties. There was a majority--an overwhelming majority--[of the Advisory Board] in favour of this. And I will report that to the Secretary-General."

Ambassador Mitsuro Donowaki, currently Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, serves as Chairman of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms. The Advisory Board was established by the General Assembly in 1982 to advise the Secretary-General on various aspects of arms limitations and disarmament carried out under the auspices of the United Nations or any other institution affiliated to the United Nations system.