First Session New York, 18-22 November 2019 The Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction is scheduled to hold its First Session from 18 November to 22 November 2019 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The President-designate of the First Session is Ambassador Sima Bahous of Jordan. Background General Assembly decision A/73/546 (22 December 2018) “entrusts the Secretary-General with the convening, no later than 2019…of a conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction”. Pursuant to the decision, all the States of the region were invited to consultations. Agreement was reached at these consultations by the participating States to endorse the nomination of H.E. Ms. Sima Bahous, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN as President-designate of the First Session of the Conference. Participating States also agreed that the conference will be held from 18 to 22 November 2019 at UN Headquarters, New York. In accordance with A/73/546, the Secretary-General sent, in May this year, invitation letters to all States of the Middle East to participate in the conference. Invitation letters were also sent to the five nuclear-weapon States to attend the conference. States from the region participating in the consultations are currently considering issues in preparation for the conference, including its draft rules of procedure, draft provisional agenda and other modalities.