As the Council’s meeting addresses the issue of nuclear-weapon-free zones, NAM reaffirms the need for the speedy establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East in accordance with Security Council resolution 487 (1981) and paragraph 14 of Council resolution 687 (1991) and the relevant General Assembly resolutions adopted by consensus; and, pending its establishment, NAM demands that Israel, the only country in the region that has not joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons or declared its intention to do so, renounce possession of nuclear weapons, accede to the Treaty without further delay, place promptly all its nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency fullscope safeguards according to Security Council resolution 487 (1981) and conduct its nuclear-related activities in conformity with the non-proliferation regime.

At its sixty-fourth session, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to continue to pursue consultations with the States of the region and other concerned States, in order to move towards the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, and also requested him to submit to the Assembly at its sixty-fifth session a report on the implementation of the resolution (resolution 64/26).

Changing demographics and poor technological and socio-economic conditions, unplanned urbanization, development within high-risk zones, underdevelopment and poor infrastructure, weak adaptive capacity, environmental degradation, climate variability, climate change, exposure to geological hazards, competition for scarce resources, and the impact of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis all increase the vulnerability of least developed countries to natural hazards.

At its eighth meeting, the Commission examined items 5.10 “Establishment of an international centre for water hazard and risk management (ICHARM) in Tsukuba, Japan, under the auspices of UNESCO”, 5.16 “Proposal for the establishment of an IHP-HELP centre for water law, policy and science at the University of Dundee, United Kingdom” and 5.32 “Proposed establishment of the Regional Water Centre for Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC) under the auspices of UNESCO, in La Serena (Chile)”.

The implementation of the sixth phase of IHP (2002-2007) completed its fifth year, and significant progress was made in different fields during the period reported: G-WADI, the global network on information for development in arid and semi-arid zones was expanded; a successful Fifth FRIEND (Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data) World Conference on Water Resources Variability, Processes, Analyses and Impacts took place in Cuba in November 2006; links to the Global Environment Facility were further strengthened with a number of cooperation lines opened; numerous workshops and training activities were held on key urban water management issues; groundwater management, including groundwater for emergency situations; shared water management; ecohydrology; and water history and culture.

Looking to the future, the community’s efforts in this area will be focused on finalizing the legal instrument and its adoption by member States; boosting the active participation of national commissions on small arms and light weapons; implementing the border programme, especially in the area of cross-border security; drawing up and implementing a police cooperation mechanism to address the issue of the six lawless zones; operationalizing the Gulf of Guinea securitization strategy in coordination with the Economic Community of West African States and, of course, with our international partners; implementing the policy of security sector reform in order to ensure that State armaments are traceable; providing support of all types to ensure the success of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes at rates of around 90 per cent by 2015; and strengthening civil society organizations with regard to information, awareness-raising and social networking.

Taking into account the aforementioned geographical location of the diamond areas and the Group’s overall view that the basic economic structure of the former Forces nouvelles, in particular in those areas that continue to be under the influence of zone commanders, remains somewhat intact, it can be contemplated that this structure, or elements of this structure, continue to benefit from diamond revenues, as do non-Ivorian individuals and entities who remain unlicensed.

A number of States reported on the use of area-based management tools within areas of national jurisdiction to protect VMEs and marine biodiversity more generally, by limiting or restricting fishing activities, including through the establishment of marine parks, marine conservation areas, MPAs and no-take zones (Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Mexico, Iceland, United States).

The ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone and the weak recovery in the United States were thus posing serious challenges to many AsiaPacific economies.

The Commission noted the challenges facing the region, including the continuing debt crisis in the euro zone and slow recovery in other developed economies, which were leading to lower growth prospects in the region as well as the potential reduction in access to liquidity.

In addition, cross-border security cooperation between these States remains very limited; as a result, arms traffickers and other cross-border armed actors take advantage of the absence of State control in these peripheral zones to export military materiel illegally from Libya to neighbouring countries (see section VI.D).

(18) Having examined 32 C/DR.64 (submitted by Sudan, supported by Egypt), concerning paragraph 02110, proposing the insertion of an additional operative subparagraph which would allow extension of the zone of intervention of institutions that promote the understanding of sustainable land and water use through training of their staff on modern techniques of developing multimedia based course ware to be offered through distant learning systems, and further requesting an amount of US $80,000 to support this activity, the Commission recommended that the General Conference decide that the proposal of this draft resolution was already reflected in paragraph 02113 of document 32 C/5 and that funding for related activities should be accommodated to the extent possible in the regular budget work plans.

Where appropriate, such measures may include technical measures related to fish size, mesh size or gear, discards, closed seasons and areas and zones reserved for selected fisheries, particularly artisanal fisheries.

Hence, Algeria welcomes the announcement made today by the Secretary-General and the three sponsors of the resolution on the Middle East adopted at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, in consultation with the States of the region, of the appointment of Mr. Jaakko Laajava as facilitator and of Finland as the host country for the 2012 conference on the establishment in the Middle East of a zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction, in accordance with the action plan adopted at the 2010 NPT Review Conference.

The Ministers requested developed countries parties, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to take all practicable steps to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies and know-how to developing countries, to enable them to take all necessary actions including comprehensive for the coastal zones management and protection of coral reefs and related ecosystems.

The same day, the security officer of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) in Walikale sent an advisory by SMS to OCHA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, security officers of the World Food Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), focal points of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services and MONUSCO security officers in Goma, stating that the area of Mpofi, on the Masisi-Walikale axis, had passed under the control of FDLR and that UNDSS recommended the suspension of movements in that zone.

The States members of the Rio Group, as part of the first densely populated area declared a nuclearweapon-free zone through the Treaty of Tlatelolco about 40 years ago, welcome the convening of the Second Conference of States Parties and Signatories to Treaties that Establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones and Mongolia to consider ways and means to enhance consultations among States parties and signatories, treaty agencies and other interested States, with the aim of promoting coordination and convergence in the implementation of the provisions of these treaties and in strengthening the regime of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Examples were given of national, bilateral, regional and international programmes to further socio-economic and sustainable development, notably in the following areas: agriculture and fishery; climate change monitoring; detecting illegal crops and opium poppy cultivation; early warning of and response to natural and man-made disasters; geology; humanitarian relief; hydrology; managing ecosystems and natural resources; mapping biodiversity resources, coastal zones, land use, wasteland and wetlands; monitoring air quality, desertification, droughts, food security, deforestation, the ionosphere and weather; oceanography; rural development and urban planning; and search and rescue efforts.

Examples were given of national, bilateral, regional and international programmes to further socio-economic and sustainable development, notably in the following areas: agriculture and fishery; monitoring climate change; disaster management; hydrology; managing ecosystems and natural resources; monitoring air and water quality; mapping biodiversity resources, coastal zones, land use, wasteland and wetlands; oceanography; rural development and urban planning; and safety.

When maritime zones overlap, Article 15 of UNCLOS states that the boundaries will be established at an equal distance from both countries coasts, although there are other factors that can modify this, including the lengths of the relevant coastlines, the distance of the various mainland and island coastlines from each other, as well as the number of different island features owned by the various parties to the dispute.

They include recent efforts in the United Nations on conflict and natural resources; work by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank on weak governance zones and fragile States; the Kimberley Process on conflict diamonds; or initiatives such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the Guidance on Responsible Business in Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas of the Global Compact or the publication on business and international humanitarian law by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The experts expect that any such investigation would not be limited to the question of whether Polish officials had created an “extraterritorial zone” in Poland, but also whether officials were aware that “enhanced interrogation techniques” were applied there.

Assigned quotas and import quotas for HCFC, R-141B consumption phase-out, include the Colon Free Zone in the licensing system, prepare and bind practical training programme addressed to customs inspectors and carry out periodical inspections to HCFC shipments, develop and implement laws to control HCFCs, develop training programmess to customs officials, RAC technicians and teachers and keep imports informed on the new process for the assignment of HCFC import quotas, coordinate with Colon Free Zone re-exporters, carry out promotion activities with schools, universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), train customs brokers, develop a database for timely control of HCFCs, develop the first activities of the HPMP to maintain baseline consumption.

In that regard, the Committee was of the view that foreign direct investment (FDI) could play an important role in supply-side capacity-building and could be attracted through the development of export processing zones and incentives.