A/RES/53/77 Page 46 AA CONVENING OF THE FOURTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEVOTED TO DISARMAMENT The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 49/75 I of 15 December 1994, 50/70 F of 12 December 1995, 51/45 C of 10 December 1996 and 52/38 F of 9 December 1997, Recalling also that, there has been a consensus to do so in each case, three special sessions of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament were held in 1978, 1982 and 1988, respectively, Bearing in mind the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly,1 adopted by consensus at the first special session devoted to disarmament, which included the Declaration, Programme of Action and Machinery for disarmament, Bearing in mind also the objective of general and complete disarmament under effective international control, Welcoming the recent positive changes in the international landscape, characterized by the end of the cold war, the relaxation of tensions at the global level and the emergence of a new spirit governing relations among nations, Taking note of paragraph 145 of the Final Document of the Twelfth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Durban, South Africa, from 29 August to 3 September 1998,23 which supported the convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, which would offer an opportunity to review from a perspective more in tune with the current international situation the most critical aspects of the process of disarmament and to mobilize the international community and public opinion in favour of the elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and of the control and reduction of conventional weapons, Taking note also of the report of the 1998 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission on the item entitled “Fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament”,68 Desiring to build upon the substantive exchange of views on the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament during the 1998 substantive session of the Disarmament Commission, Reiterating its conviction that a special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament can set the future course of action in the field of disarmament, arms control and related international security matters, Emphasizing the importance of multilateralism in the process of disarmament, arms control and related international security matters, 68 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 42 (A/53/42). /...