UNGA: GUIDANCE FOR UNSCEAR RESOLUTION FOR 64TH

UNCLAS STATE 109385

SENSITIVE

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED)

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA: GUIDANCE FOR UNSCEAR RESOLUTION FOR 64TH
UNGA


1. (U) This is an action request, see paragraph 3.


2. (U) SUMMARY: The UN General Assembly will consider its
annual UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation (UNSCEAR) resolution on Thursday, October 22, 2009,
in New York. The resolution is expected to be adopted by
consensus.


3. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: USUN is authorized to join consensus
on the adoption of the UNSCEAR resolution, entitled "Effects
of Atomic Radiation." The full text of the resolution is
included in paragraph 4 below. Should other Member States
propose substantive amendments to the current text, USUN
should seek further guidance from Washington.


4. (U) BEGIN TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION:


The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 913 (X) of 3 December 1955, by which
it established the United Nations Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiation, and its subsequent resolutions
on the subject, including resolution 63/89 of 5 December
2008, in which, inter alia, it requested the Scientific
Committee to continue its work,
Taking note with appreciation of the work of the Scientific
Committee, and noting the letter from its Chairman to the
President of the General Assembly A/64/223.,
Reaffirming the desirability of the Scientific Committee
continuing its work,
Concerned about the potentially harmful effects on present
and future generations resulting from the levels of radiation
to which mankind and the environment are exposed,
Conscious of the continuing need to examine and compile
information about atomic and ionizing radiation and to
analyse its effects on mankind and the environment, and
conscious also of the increased volume, complexity and
diversity of that information,
Noting the views expressed by Member States at its
sixty-fourth session with regard to the work of the
Scientific Committee,
Emphasizing the vital need for sustainable, appropriate and
predictable resourcing, as well as efficient management, of
the Secretariat,s work to arrange the annual sessions and
coordinate the development of documents based on scientific
reviews from Member States of the sources of ionizing
radiation and its effects on human health and the
environment,
Recalling the deep concern of the Scientific Committee
expressed in the report on its fifty-fifth session that
reliance on a single post at the Professional level in its
secretariat had left the Committee seriously vulnerable and
had hampered the efficient implementation of its approved
programme of work Official Records of the General Assembly,
Sixty-Third Session, Supplement No. 46 (A/63/46)
Recalling the comprehensive report of the Secretary-General
A/63/478. on the financial and administrative implications of
increased membership of the Committee, staffing of its
professional secretariat and methods to ensure sufficient,
assured and predictable funding, and
Recalling its request of the Secretary-General, in
formulating his proposed programme budget for the biennium
2010)2011, to consider all options, including the
possibility of internal reallocation, to provide the
Scientific Committee with the resources outlined in
paragraphs 48 to 50 of the Secretary-General,s report,
(A/63/89, op 16)
Commends the United Nations Scientific Committee on the
Effects of Atomic Radiation for the valuable contribution it
has been making in the course of the past fifty-four years,
since its inception, to wider knowledge and understanding of
the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation, and for
fulfilling its original mandate with scientific authority and
independence of judgement;
Reaffirms the decision to maintain the present functions and
independent role of the Scientific Committee;
Requests the Scientific Committee to continue its work,
including its important activities to increase knowledge of
the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation from all
sources;
Endorses the intentions and plans, including those outlined
in the Chairman,s letter to the President of the General
Assembly A/64/223, for conducting the present programme of
work of scientific review and assessment of the Scientific
Committee on behalf of the General Assembly, encourages the
Committee at its earliest convenience to submit these reports
(which include assessments of levels of radiation from energy
production and the effects on human health and the
environment, and on the attribution of health effects due to
radiation exposure),and to initiate as far as possible work
on the remaining previously endorsed topics, and requests the
Committee to submit plans for its future programme of work to
the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session;
Requests the Scientific Committee to continue at its next
session the review of the important questions in the field of
ionizing radiation and to report thereon to the General
Assembly at its sixty-fifth session;
Reemphasizes the need for the Scientific Committee to hold
regular sessions on an annual basis so that its report can
reflect the latest developments and findings in the field of
ionizing radiation and thereby provide updated information
for dissemination among all States;
Expresses its appreciation for the assistance rendered to the
Scientific Committee by Member States, the specialized
agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and
non-governmental organizations, and invites them to increase
their cooperation in this field;
Invites the Scientific Committee to continue its
consultations with scientists and experts from interested
Member States in the process of preparing its future
scientific reports, and requests the Secretariat to
facilitate such consultations;
Welcomes, in this context, the readiness of Member States to
provide the Scientific Committee with relevant information on
the effects of ionizing radiation in affected areas, and
invites the Committee to analyse and give due consideration
to such information, particularly in the light of its own
findings;
Invites Member States, the organizations of the United
Nations system and non-governmental organizations concerned
to provide further relevant data about doses, effects and
risks from various sources of radiation, which would greatly
help in the preparation of future reports of the Scientific
Committee to the General Assembly;
Requests the United Nations Environment Programme to continue
providing support for the effective conduct of the work of
the Scientific Committee and for the dissemination of its
findings to the General Assembly, the scientific community
and the public;
Urges the United Nations Environment Programme to continue to
review and strengthen the funding of the Scientific
Committee, pursuant to paragraph 13 of resolution 63/89, and
to continue to seek out and consider temporary funding
mechanisms to complement existing ones, and, in that context,
encourages Member States to consider making voluntary
contributions to the general trust fund established by the
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme to receive and manage voluntary contributions to
support the work of the Committee;
Reminds the Scientific Committee, as directed in paragraph 17
of resolution 63/89, to continue its reflection on how the
current, as well as a potentially revised, membership for the
Scientific Committee could best support the essential work of
the Committee, including by developing, with the
participation of the observer countries, detailed, objective
and transparent criteria and indicators to be applied
equitably to present and future members alike, and to report
its conclusions by the end of June 2010,
Welcomes the attendance of Belarus, Finland, Pakistan, the
Republic of Korea, Spain and Ukraine as observers at the
fifty-sixth session of the Scientific Committee, invites each
of those States to designate one scientist to attend, as
observers, the fifty-seventh session of the Committee, and
resolves to take a decision on the membership of the
Scientific Committee, including of these six countries, once
a decision on resource allocation has been made, and after
UNSCEAR,s 57th Session, but no later than the end of the
sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly
CLINTON