President: Ambassador Toshio Sano (Japan)

Mr. Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament,

Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates,

Allow me to make a statement in my capacity as the President of the Conference on Disarmament.

At the outset, let me express my warm gratitude to my two predecessors, Ambassador Eviatar Manor of Israel and Ambassador Vinicio Mati of Italy, as well as their team, for their extensive efforts and professional work they have conducted to move the Conference on Disarmament forward. I would also like to sincerely thank Acting Secretary-General, Mr. Michael Møller, and his team for their strong commitment and support. My gratitude also goes to the other members of the group of six Presidencies in 2014 for the close cooperation we are making in our current session.

It is my great honour as Ambassador of Japan to the CD to preside over this distinguished body. As Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister ISHIHARA stated last month in this Chamber, Japan centers disarmament as one of the pillars to its foreign policy, and it is a strong desire of the Japanese people, like many others worldwide, to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. I will spare no effort in accomplishing this important task as the President, and to take part in our collective effort.

I regret that the CD has not been able to conduct any disarmament negotiation since the CTBT in 1996 despite its mandate and capacity. I must confess that I sense the frustration and resignation inside and outside the Conference. Nevertheless, I still recognize the CD as indispensable.

Multilateralism will be the way to overcome the difficulties that lay ahead in nuclear disarmament and the need to pursue multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiation has never been greater. This is precisely what characterizes the CD as unique and where the international community continues to generate its expectation. Being a CD member is a privilege and we must discharge our responsibility to exhibit a concrete outcome.

During my Presidency, I am committed to work with transparency and continuity for the benefit of all throughout this year in full cooperation with the six Presidencies in 2014. Although my first priority is to adopt a Program of Work to enable negotiation, I am fully aware of the difficulty for such an achievement in the immediate term. As my pragmatic preference, and also as a common understanding expressed by the large majority of the Member States, I will devote myself in finalizing the so-called “dual track approach”.

Thanks especially to the untiring efforts made by my two predecessors, the first track, which is to revalidate the IWG, has already been established. The Conference should now focus on the second track, the Schedule of Activities. As stressed during the Italian Presidency, these tracks are different from an operational and conceptual point of view, but should be conducted in a parallel way, because these two exercises need to be implemented in a mutually reinforcing way.

A paper with a set of options was sent to the Regional Groups more than a month ago and I believe considerable amount of discussions has been done so far. Although no one might be a hundred percent satisfied, the Member States now have a non-paper, circulated last Tuesday, aimed to strike middle ground among different positions and to be hopefully acceptable for all. If the Conference wishes to conduct substantive and structured discussions to prove progress, we need to accelerate the procedure.

To ensure the coordinators and the Member States sufficient time for the preparation during the intersessional period, it is therefore the intention of the President to seek an adoption of a Schedule of Activities before the end of the first session. In this regard, G21 requested more time to consider the non-paper. I therefore invite those who need more time to submit their comments on the non-paper to do so by 5 pm on 20^th March. After incorporating the comments, the President plans to circulate a draft SoA this week as working paper proposed by the President himself. I also would like to urge the WEOG and G21 to come up with the names of candidates to serve as coordinator for the Schedule of Activities at the earliest possible date.

Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates,

My door is always open and I am ready to work with you all. Thank you.