The United States was pleased to join the signatories of the following letter to Under-Secretary General Nakamitsu on Friday, October 22, 2021
Letter to Under-Secretary-General Nakamitsu (PDF)
October 22nd, 2021
Izumi Nakamitsu
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs
Palais des Nations 8-14,
Avenue de la Paix Office C.119
Dear Under-Secretary-General Nakamitsu,
We, the undersigned, regret that the Conference on Disarmament was not able to reach consensus on a technical update to its Rules of Procedure to reflect the equality of women and men during its 2021 session.
We thank you, and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, for your support for the proposal. Your endorsements sent a very strong signal to delegations and were directly in line with Secretary General Guterres’ call for gender parity in his Agenda for Disarmament, and with UNSC resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
Through this proposal, we aimed to senda clear message that the participation of women in the work of the Conference on Disarmament, and in the field of international security more broadly, is not just accepted as a matter of practice but is also welcomed as a matter of principle.
While we were disappointed that the proposal was unable to garner consensus in 2021, it was clear that the overwhelming majority of delegations supported it. As such, we will continue to seek this simple, but significant, change.
We welcome the continued support ofthe United Nations leadership for this endeavour, and for other efforts to embed principles of diversity, inclusion and gender parity across relevant disarmament and international security fora.
The representatives of Member States of the Conference on Disarmament listed below have agreed to co-sign this Letter.
Yours Sincerely,
Ambassador Federico Villegas
Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Sally Mansfield
Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
S.E. Mme Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger
Ambassadrice extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire,Représentante permanente de l’Autriche auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies Cheffe de la délégation auprès de la Conférence du Désarmement
H.E. Ambassador Marc Pecsteen
Permanent Representative of Belgium in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Yuri Sterk
Permanent Representative of the Republic
of Bulgaria to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva
S.E. M. Salomon Eheth
Ambassadeur, Représentant permanent Mission permanente de la République du Cameroun auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies et des autres organisations internationales à GenèveH.E.
Ambassador Leslie E. Norton
Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Frank Tressler
Permanent Representative of Chile to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Alicia Arango Olmos Ambassador of Colombia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Emilio Izquierdo
Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi
Permanent Representative of Finlandin Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Yann Hwang
Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Thomas Göbel
Ambassador and Permanent Representative Permanent Mission of Germany to the Conference on Disarmament
H.E. Ambassador Michael Gaffey
Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Gianfranco Incarnato
Permanent Representative of Italy to the Conference on Disarmament
H.E. AmbassadorIchiro Ogasawara
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament
Mme Erika Gabriela Martínez Liévano
Minister, Chargée d’affaires a.i.Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
S.E. M. l’Ambassadeur Omar Zniber
Représentant Permanent de la Mission Permanente du Royaume du Maroc auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies et des autres organisations internationales à Genève
H.E. Ambassador Robbert Jan Gabriëlse
Permanent Representative of Netherlands to the Conference on Disarmament
H.E. Ambassador Lucy Duncan
Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations and other International agencies in Geneva, including the Conference on Disarmament, and Ambassador for Disarmament
H.E. Ambassador Tine Mørch Smith
Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Luis Juan Chuquihuara Chil
Permanent Representative of Peru to the International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Zbigniew Czech
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations Office at Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Sangbeom Lim
Head of the Delegation to the CD, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Adrian Vierita
Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Ignacio Sánchez de Lerín García-Ovies
Permanent Representative of Spain to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Anna Jardfelt
Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Permanent Mission of Sweden
H.E. Ambassador Félix Baumann
Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament
H.E. Ambassador Yevheniia FilipenkoPermanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva
H.E. Ambassador Aidan Liddle
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the Conference on Disarmament
H.E.Ambassador Robert A. WoodUnited States Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament
H.E. Dr. Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai
Ambassador Extraordinary and PlenipotentiaryPermanent Representative of the S.R. of Viet Nam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland
H.E. Ambassador Stuart Harold Comberbach
Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva