UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is disappointed little progress has been made in curbing threats from stockpiles of weapons.
"Unfortunately, we seem to be in a rut where setbacks in the field of disarmament have become the norm, not an exception," he told the U.N. Disarmament Commission's first meeting of the year Monday at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.
The current "unacceptable" situation is evidenced by failure of the 2005 review conference of Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament and the need for new impetus for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Ban said.
Although nuclear weapons threaten mass destruction, he also warned of the devastating cumulative damages inflicted daily by conventional weapons, such as small arms, anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions.
To counter such dangers, multilateral cooperation is essential, and existing treaties must be strengthened, the secretary-general told the commission, a subsidiary of the U.N. General Assembly established in 1952.
Calling disarmament one of his personal priorities, Ban voiced hope the new Office for Disarmament Affairs, which will replace the current Department for Disarmament Affairs, will "better mobilize the political will necessary to overcome the current stalemate and re-energize action on both disarmament and non-proliferation."
He had first presented the proposal to the 192-member body in February and is expected soon to appoint a high representative for the new office.
