ATT/CSP4/2018/PRES/245/PM1.RegRep 09 February 2018 Issued

ATT/CSP4/2018/PRES/245/PM1.RegRep

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09 February 2018

Issued by the CSP4 President

Original: English

REGIONAL REPRESENTATION: OPTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

BACKGROUND

1. During the Third Conference of States Parties (CSP3) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) held from

11-15 September 2017, the Conference recognised that: ‘the difference in approaches to regional

representation in the appointment of vice-Presidents and the Management Committee requires

further discussion and clarification during the informal preparatory process leading up to the Fourth

Conference of States Parties with a view to resolving this and other issues related to the Terms of

Reference of the Management Committee at the Fourth Conference of States Parties. The Conference

also requested the Presidency to allocate sufficient time to these discussions during the informal

preparatory process of the Fourth Conference of States Parties’ (paragraph 45 of the Final Report

(ATT/CSP3/2017/SEC/184/Conf.FinRep.Rev1)).

2. The ATT Secretariat prepared this background paper on behalf of the President of the Fourth

Conference of States Parties (CSP4) to support the discussions on this matter that will take place during

the informal preparatory process leading up to CSP4. The paper sets out the options for regional

classification that States Parties may consider when deciding the approach to be adopted by the ATT

process.

CURRENT ATT PRACTICE

3. The Terms of Reference for the Management Committee provide that: ‘The Management

Committee shall comprise the President of the Conference of States Parties and a State Party

representative designated by each UN regional group’ (emphasis added)(paragraph 2). The Rules of

Procedure provide that: ‘the Conference shall elect a President and four vice-Presidents for the

following session of the Conference from among the representatives of participating States Parties’

(Rule 9.1).

4. While it has been the practice in the ATT process so far that the President and four Vice-

Presidents (informally known as the ‘Bureau’) represent regional groupings, there is no requirement

in the Rules of Procedure to that effect and there is also no agreement among States Parties on what

constitutes regional groupings. One of the issues that has arisen in the context of this discussion is the

desirability of having the same approach to regional representation in both the Management

Committee and the Bureau. The ATT Secretariat currently uses the regional groupings adopted by the

United Nations Statistics Division (described below) to classify States for the purposes of reporting and

participation statistics.

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5. A description of the options available for the regional classification to be adopted by the ATT

is provided below.

OPTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION: UN REGIONAL GROUPS

6. The United Nations has, essentially, two systems of regional classification for UN member

states:

a. Geopolitical regional groupings: The United Nations Regional Groups of Member States

are geopolitical regional groups of UN member states, also known as UN ‘electoral groups’,

which are the product of decisions by the UN General Assembly over the years to facilitate

the election of countries and office holders to the principal institutions, governing bodies

and chairman-ships of the UN system;

1

and

b. Geographical regional groupings: A list of geographic regions used by the United Nations

Statistics Division in its publications and databases. Each country or area is shown in one

region only. These geographic regions are based on continental regions; which are further

subdivided into sub-regions and intermediary regions drawn as to obtain greater

homogeneity in sizes of population, demographic circumstances and accuracy of

demographic statistics (Source: United Nations Statistics Division).

7. Details of the two systems of classification are included in Annexes A and B.

8. An overview of some of the characteristics associated with each system of classification is

included in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Overview of Characteristics of UN Regional Classification Systems

Geopolitical regional groupings

Geographical regional groupings

 States are familiar with the groupings

 Politicized process

 Not fully comprehensive: Certain States are

omitted

 Groupings are subject to change over time

 States are less familiar with the groupings

 Non-politicized process

 Comprehensive: All States are included

(including countries that are not UN

member States)

***

1

What is Equitable Geographic Representation in the Twenty-first Century? Report of a seminar held by the

International Peace Academy and the United Nations University, 26 March 1999, New York, USA, United Nations

University, pp. 30-31 (http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/equitable.pdf).

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Annex A. United Nations Regional Groups of Member States

African Group

 Algeria

 Angola

 Benin

 Botswana

 Burkina Faso

 Burundi

 Cabo Verde

 Cameroon

 Central African Republic

 Chad

 Comoros

 Congo

 Côte d'Ivoire

 Democratic Republic of the

Congo

 Djibouti

 Egypt

 Equatorial Guinea

 Eritrea

 Ethiopia

 Gabon

 Gambia

 Ghana

 Guinea

 Guinea-Bissau

 Kenya

 Lesotho

 Liberia

 Libya

 Madagascar

 Malawi

 Mali

 Mauritania

 Mauritius

 Morocco

 Mozambique

 Namibia

 Niger

 Nigeria

 Rwanda

 São Tomé and Príncipe

 Senegal

 Seychelles

 Sierra Leone

 Somalia

 South Africa

 South Sudan

 Sudan

 Swaziland

 Togo

 Tunisia

 Uganda

 United Republic of

Tanzania

 Zambia

 Zimbabwe

Asia-Pacific Group

 Afghanistan

 Bahrain

 Bangladesh

 Bhutan

 Brunei Darussalam

 Cambodia

 China

 Cyprus

 Democratic People's

Republic of Korea

 Fiji

 India

 Indonesia

 Iran (Islamic Republic of)

 Iraq

 Japan

 Jordan

 Kazakhstan

 Kiribati*

 Kuwait

 Kyrgyzstan

 Lao People's Republic

 Lebanon

 Malaysia

 Maldives

 Marshall Islands

 Micronesia (Federated

States of)

 Mongolia

 Myanmar

 Nauru

 Nepal

 Oman

 Pakistan

 Palau

 Papua New Guinea

 Philippines

 Qatar

 Republic of Korea

 Samoa

 Saudi Arabia

 Singapore

 Solomon Islands

 Sri Lanka

 Syrian Arab Republic

 Tajikistan

 Thailand

 Timor-Leste

 Tonga

 Turkey*

 Turkmenistan

 Tuvalu

 United Arab Emirates

 Uzbekistan

 Vanuatu

 Vietnam

 Yemen

Eastern European Group

 Albania

 Armenia

 Estonia

 Georgia

 Romania

 Russian Federation

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 Azerbaijan

 Belarus

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Bulgaria

 Croatia

 Czech Republic

 Hungary

 Latvia

 Lithuania

 Montenegro

 Poland

 Republic of Moldova

 Serbia

 Slovakia

 Slovenia

 The former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia

 Ukraine

Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

 Antigua and Barbuda

 Argentina

 Bahamas

 Barbados

 Belize

 Bolivia (Plurinational

State of)

 Brazil

 Chile

 Colombia

 Costa Rica

 Cuba

 Dominica

 Dominican Republic

 Ecuador

 El Salvador

 Grenada

 Guatemala

 Guyana

 Haiti

 Honduras

 Jamaica

 Mexico

 Nicaragua

 Panama

 Paraguay

 Peru

 Saint Kitts and Nevis

 Saint Lucia

 Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines

 Suriname

 Trinidad and Tobago

 Uruguay

 Venezuela

(Bolivarian Republic of)

Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

 Andorra

 Australia

 Austria

 Belgium

 Canada

 Denmark

 Finland

 France

 Germany

 Greece

 Iceland

 Ireland

 Israel*

 Italy

 Liechtenstein

 Luxembourg

 Malta

 Monaco

 Netherlands

 New Zealand

 Norway

 Portugal

 San Marino

 Spain

 Sweden

 Switzerland

 Turkey*

 United Kingdom

 United States of America*

*Special cases

Israel

In May 2000 Israel became a WEOG full member, on a temporary basis (subject to renewal), in WEOG's

headquarters in the US, thereby enabling it to put forward candidates for election to various UN General

Assembly bodies. In 2004 Israel obtained a permanent renewal to its membership.

Kiribati

As of 2010, Kiribati (geographically in Oceania) is not a member of any regional group, despite other Oceania

nations belonging to the Asian group. Despite its membership in the United Nations, Kiribati has never delegated

a permanent representative to the UN.

Turkey

Turkey, participates fully in both WEOG and Asian Group, but for electoral purposes is considered a member of

WEOG only.

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United States of America

The United States of America is not a member of any regional group, but attends meetings of the Western

Europe and Other States Group (WEOG) as an observer and is considered to be a member of that group for

electoral purposes.

Source: http://www.un.org/depts/DGACM/RegionalGroups.shtml

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Annex B. List of Geographic Regions Used by the United Nations Statistics Division

AFRICA

Northern Africa

Algeria

Egypt

Libya

Morocco

Sudan

Tunisia

Western Sahara

Eastern Africa

British Indian Ocean Territory

Burundi

Comoros

Djibouti

Eritrea

Ethiopia

French Southern Territories

Kenya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mauritius

Mayotte

Mozambique

Réunion

Rwanda

Seychelles

Somalia

South Sudan

Uganda

United Republic of Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Middle Africa

Angola

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Gabon

Sao Tome and Principe

Southern Africa

Botswana

Lesotho

Namibia

South Africa

Swaziland

Western Africa

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cabo Verde

Côte d'Ivoire

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Liberia

Mali

Mauritania

Niger

Nigeria

Saint Helena

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Togo

AMERICAS

Latin America and the Caribbean

Caribbean

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Aruba

Bahamas

Barbados

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Cuba

Curaçao

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Haiti

Jamaica

Martinique

Montserrat

Puerto Rico

Saint Barthélemy

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Martin (French Part)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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Sint Maarten (Dutch part)

Trinidad and Tobago

Turks and Caicos Islands

United States Virgin Islands

Central America

Belize

Costa Rica

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

South America

Argentina

Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

Bouvet Island

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

French Guiana

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

South Georgia and the South Sandwich

Islands

Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Northern America

Bermuda

Canada

Greenland

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

United States of America

ASIA

Central Asia

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Eastern Asia

China

China, Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region

China, Macao Special Administrative

Region

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Japan

Mongolia

Republic of Korea

South-eastern Asia

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Viet Nam

Southern Asia

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

India

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Maldives

Nepal

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Western Asia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Cyprus

Georgia

Iraq

Israel

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

State of Palestine

Syrian Arab Republic

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

Yemen

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EUROPE

Eastern Europe

Belarus

Bulgaria

Czechia

Hungary

Poland

Republic of Moldova

Romania

Russian Federation

Slovakia

Ukraine

Northern Europe

Åland Islands

Channel Islands

Denmark

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Finland

Iceland

Ireland

Isle of Man

Latvia

Lithuania

Norway

Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

Sweden

United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland

Southern Europe

Albania

Andorra

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Gibraltar

Greece

Holy See

Italy

Malta

Montenegro

Portugal

San Marino

Serbia

Slovenia

Spain

The former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia

Western Europe

Austria

Belgium

France

Germany

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Monaco

Netherlands

Switzerland

OCEANIA

Australia and New Zealand

Australia

Christmas Island

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

New Zealand

Norfolk Island

Melanesia

Fiji

New Caledonia

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

Vanuatu

Micronesia

Guam

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia (Federated States of)

Nauru

Northern Mariana Islands

Palau

United States Minor Outlying Islands

Polynesia

American Samoa

Cook Islands

French Polynesia

Niue

Pitcairn

Samoa

Tokelau

Tonga

Tuvalu

Wallis and Futuna Islands