A/RES/56/25 F U NITED N ATIONS R EGIONAL CENTRE FOR P EACE AND D ISARMAMENT IN A SIA AND THE P ACIFIC The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 42/39 D of 30 November 1987 and 44/117 F of 15 December 1989, by which it established the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and renamed it the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, with headquarters in Kathmandu and with the mandate of providing, on request, substantive support for the initiatives and other activities mutually agreed upon by the Member States of the Asia-Pacific region for the implementation of measures for peace and disarmament, through appropriate utilization of available resources, Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General, 9 in which he expresses his belief that the mandate of the Regional Centre remains valid and that the Centre could be a useful instrument for fostering a climate of cooperation in the post-coldwar era, Noting that trends in the post-cold-war era have emphasized the function of the Regional Centre in assisting Member States as they deal with new security concerns and disarmament issues emerging in the region, Commending the useful activities carried out by the Regional Centre in encouraging regional and subregional dialogue for the enhancement of openness, transparency and confidence-building, as well as the promotion of disarmament and security through the organization of regional meetings, which has come to be widely known within the Asia-Pacific region as the “Kathmandu process”, Expressing its appreciation to the Regional Centre for its organization of the thirteenth regional disarmament meeting in Asia and the Pacific, held at Kathmandu from 9 to 11 March 2001, the United Nations regional disarmament meeting on the theme “A Pacific Way to Disarmament”, held at Wellington from 27 to 30 March 2001, and the meeting of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues on the theme “The Asia-Pacific region: evolution of the scope of security and disarmament in the twenty-first century”, held at Kanazawa, Japan, from 28 to 31 August 2001, Welcoming the idea of the possible creation of an educational and training programme for peace and disarmament in Asia and the Pacific for young people with different backgrounds, to be financed from voluntary contributions, Noting the important role of the Regional Centre in assisting region-specific initiatives of Member States, including its assistance in the work related to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, as well as to Mongolia’s international security and nuclear-weapon-free status, including the organization of a United Nations-sponsored non-governmental expert group meeting on the theme “Ways and means of strengthening Mongolia’s international security and nuclear-weapon-free status”, held at Sapporo, Japan, on 5 and 6 September 2001, Appreciating highly the important role that Nepal has played as the host nation of the headquarters of the Regional Centre, 10