Dayan Jayatilleka appointed coordinator on Comprehensive Programme on Disarmament  
[Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 4.10 GMT]  

Ambassador Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva has been appointed the Coordinator for the “Comprehensive Programme of Disarmament” by the President of the Conference on Disarmament (CD).  

At the Plenary meeting yesterday (January 29) held in Geneva, the Permanent Representatives of Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Japan and Senegal were also appointed Coordinators for the subjects of “Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament”, “Prevention of nuclear war-including all related matters”, “Prevention of an arms race in outer space”, and “New types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons: radiological weapons” respectively.  

In its agenda for 2008 which was adopted last week, the Conference on Disarmament agreed to work in the above subjects. The CD is expected to deliberate them with a view to arriving at an agreement on its programme of work during its current session.   

The six Coordinators are expected to conduct intensive consultations among the member States of the Conference on Disarmament on these subjects and submit reports to the President of the Conference in mid-March 2008.  

The Conference on Disarmament (CD), established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, was a result of the first Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly held in 1978.