AG/RES. 2398 (XXXVIII-O/08) Confidence- and Security-Building in the Americas
Other Releases
June 3, 2008
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 3, 2008)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4820/08), in particular the section on the activities of the Committee on Hemispheric Security;
BEARING IN MIND that in the Declaration on Security in the Americas the member states affirmed that “[c]onfidence- and security-building measures and transparency in defense and security policies contribute to increasing stability, safeguarding hemispheric and international peace and security, and consolidating democracy,” and recommended that the Committee on Hemispheric Security (CSH) meet periodically as the “Forum for Confidence- and Security-Building Measures” in order to review and evaluate existing confidence- and security-building measures and, if appropriate, consider new measures that would make it possible to ensure progress in this area;
CONSIDERING that, in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City, the Heads of State and Government declared that they would strive to improve the transparency and accountability of defense and security institutions and promote greater understanding and cooperation among government agencies involved in security and defense issues, through such means as increased sharing of defense policy and doctrine papers and personnel and information exchanges, including improving transparency in arms acquisitions;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that resolution AG/RES. 2270 (XXXVII-O/07), “Confidence- and Security-Building in the Americas,” contains a series of recommendations and mandates directed at the member states and the General Secretariat that are still in force;
RECALLING the Chairman’s Conclusions of the First Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Washington, D.C., on April 25 and 26, 2005 (CSH/FORO-I/doc.11/05); the Rapporteur’s Report of the Second Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Washington, D.C., on November 29, 2006 (CSH/FORO-II/doc.11/06 corr. 1); and the Rapporteur’s Report of the Third Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSH/FORO-III/doc.6/08 rev. 1), held in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2008; and
NOTING WITH SATISFACTION the announcement by Argentina and Chile at the Third Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures regarding the change in the term used in their bilateral documents from “confidence- and security-building measures” to “cooperation and integration measures,”
RESOLVES:
1. To renew, where applicable, its mandates to the Permanent Council and to the General Secretariat contained in resolution AG/RES. 2270 (XXXVII-O/07), “Confidence- and Security-Building in the Americas”; and to reiterate the recommendations to the member states contained therein.
2. To urge member states to continue implementing, in the manner they deem most appropriate, the recommendations contained in the Declaration of Santiago and the Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and in the Consensus of Miami: Declaration by the Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures: Recommendations to the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security.
3. To instruct the Committee on Hemispheric Security to conduct a study, with the participation of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), on unification of the criteria for reporting confidence- and security-building measures adopted in the Declaration of Santiago, the Declaration of San Salvador, and the Miami Consensus.[1]/
4. To commend member states that have regularly submitted their reports on the application of the confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) contained in the above-mentioned Declarations and Consensus; and to urge all member states to provide or continue to provide reports and information on the application of CSBMs to the General Secretariat, by July 15 of each year.
5. To instruct the Permanent Council to convene the Fourth Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures for the last quarter of 2009, to examine the application of confidence- and security-building measures throughout the region and consider next steps.
6. To establish the goal of universal participation by all member states, by 2010, in the United Nations (UN) Register of Conventional Arms and the UN Standardized International Reporting of Military Expenditures; and to renew its request that member states provide said information to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) by July 15 of each year.
7. To encourage member states to share bilateral and subregional experiences regarding the development of standardized methodologies for measuring military expenditures and inform the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures of the results of those experiences.
8. To urge member states to deepen trust and transparency through the development and exchange of defense white papers, when appropriate, taking into account the guidelines adopted by the Permanent Council in its resolution CP/RES. 829 (1342/02), “Adoption of the Guidelines on Developing National Defense Policy and Doctrine Papers.”
9. To request the General Secretariat to update the Roster of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures every year, on the basis of the information supplied by the member states by July 1 each year, and to distribute the new roster to member states by July 30 of each year.
10. To request the Secretary General to forward this resolution to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Association of South-East Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF), and other pertinent regional organizations.
11. To request the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, the execution of which shall be subject to the availability of financial resources in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.
HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4820/08), in particular the section on the activities of the Committee on Hemispheric Security;
BEARING IN MIND that in the Declaration on Security in the Americas the member states affirmed that “[c]onfidence- and security-building measures and transparency in defense and security policies contribute to increasing stability, safeguarding hemispheric and international peace and security, and consolidating democracy,” and recommended that the Committee on Hemispheric Security (CSH) meet periodically as the “Forum for Confidence- and Security-Building Measures” in order to review and evaluate existing confidence- and security-building measures and, if appropriate, consider new measures that would make it possible to ensure progress in this area;
CONSIDERING that, in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec City, the Heads of State and Government declared that they would strive to improve the transparency and accountability of defense and security institutions and promote greater understanding and cooperation among government agencies involved in security and defense issues, through such means as increased sharing of defense policy and doctrine papers and personnel and information exchanges, including improving transparency in arms acquisitions;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that resolution AG/RES. 2270 (XXXVII-O/07), “Confidence- and Security-Building in the Americas,” contains a series of recommendations and mandates directed at the member states and the General Secretariat that are still in force;
RECALLING the Chairman’s Conclusions of the First Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Washington, D.C., on April 25 and 26, 2005 (CSH/FORO-I/doc.11/05); the Rapporteur’s Report of the Second Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, held in Washington, D.C., on November 29, 2006 (CSH/FORO-II/doc.11/06 corr. 1); and the Rapporteur’s Report of the Third Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSH/FORO-III/doc.6/08 rev. 1), held in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2008; and
NOTING WITH SATISFACTION the announcement by Argentina and Chile at the Third Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures regarding the change in the term used in their bilateral documents from “confidence- and security-building measures” to “cooperation and integration measures,”
RESOLVES:
1. To renew, where applicable, its mandates to the Permanent Council and to the General Secretariat contained in resolution AG/RES. 2270 (XXXVII-O/07), “Confidence- and Security-Building in the Americas”; and to reiterate the recommendations to the member states contained therein.
2. To urge member states to continue implementing, in the manner they deem most appropriate, the recommendations contained in the Declaration of Santiago and the Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and in the Consensus of Miami: Declaration by the Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures: Recommendations to the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security.
3. To instruct the Committee on Hemispheric Security to conduct a study, with the participation of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), on unification of the criteria for reporting confidence- and security-building measures adopted in the Declaration of Santiago, the Declaration of San Salvador, and the Miami Consensus.[1]/
4. To commend member states that have regularly submitted their reports on the application of the confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) contained in the above-mentioned Declarations and Consensus; and to urge all member states to provide or continue to provide reports and information on the application of CSBMs to the General Secretariat, by July 15 of each year.
5. To instruct the Permanent Council to convene the Fourth Meeting of the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures for the last quarter of 2009, to examine the application of confidence- and security-building measures throughout the region and consider next steps.
6. To establish the goal of universal participation by all member states, by 2010, in the United Nations (UN) Register of Conventional Arms and the UN Standardized International Reporting of Military Expenditures; and to renew its request that member states provide said information to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) by July 15 of each year.
7. To encourage member states to share bilateral and subregional experiences regarding the development of standardized methodologies for measuring military expenditures and inform the Forum on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures of the results of those experiences.
8. To urge member states to deepen trust and transparency through the development and exchange of defense white papers, when appropriate, taking into account the guidelines adopted by the Permanent Council in its resolution CP/RES. 829 (1342/02), “Adoption of the Guidelines on Developing National Defense Policy and Doctrine Papers.”
9. To request the General Secretariat to update the Roster of Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures every year, on the basis of the information supplied by the member states by July 1 each year, and to distribute the new roster to member states by July 30 of each year.
10. To request the Secretary General to forward this resolution to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Association of South-East Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF), and other pertinent regional organizations.
11. To request the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, the execution of which shall be subject to the availability of financial resources in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.
[1]. The Republic of Nicaragua does not support this paragraph for the reasons given in the footnote to the resolution “Support for the Activities of the Inter-American Defense Board,” which reads: “The Republic of Nicaragua would not agree to intervention by the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) in activities that might entail an encroachment on, or damage to, the country’s sovereignty, independence, institutions, and legal system. Otherwise, it would not support this resolution or other resolutions with similar content.
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