DC/3791

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Fellowship Programme Begins Final Segment Today at Headquarters

NEW YORK, 5 October (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The 2018 United Nations Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament will commence its final segment today at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Young Government officials from the following 25 Member States of the United Nations are participating in the 2018 Programme:  Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iceland, Jamaica, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Libya, Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Niger, Pakistan, Portugal, Senegal, United States, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The Fellows will participate in the work of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) of the General Assembly.  Besides attending Committee meetings, they will follow presentations and briefings on a wide range of disarmament, non‑proliferation and arms control issues by senior diplomats and United Nations officials, including the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, as well as by representatives of civil society and academia.  They will participate in a panel on nuclear disarmament and non‑proliferation and attend other events associated with the First Committee.

The 2018 Programme’s initial segment started in Geneva on 20 August.  The Fellows have been introduced to various aspects of multilateral negotiations and the disarmament machinery, including the work of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and the operation of different treaty regimes, and the role and functioning of several international organizations and structures, such as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear‑Test‑Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna.  Furthermore, the Programme has included study visits to Berne, Switzerland, organized by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, as well as country‑specific study visits hosted by the Governments of China, Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The Programme will conclude at United Nations Headquarters on 26 October.  The Fellows will be awarded certificates of participation by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu.

The Programme was launched by the General Assembly at its first special session devoted to disarmament in 1978 with the aim of promoting expertise in disarmament in more States, particularly in developing countries.  Implemented by the Office for Disarmament Affairs, the Programme has trained more than 1,000 public officials from 167 States, a large number of whom are now in positions of responsibility in the field of disarmament within their own Governments or in international organizations.

For more information, please visit www.unog.ch/disarmament/fellowship.

For information media. Not an official record.