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Second Meeting of State Parties to Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to Be Held at Headquarters, 27 November–1 December

NEW YORK, 24 November (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be held at the United Nations Headquarters from 27 November-1 December 2023.  Juan Ramón de la Fuente (Mexico) was elected as President of the Meeting.

The Treaty, the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to be negotiated in more than two decades, was adopted on 7 July 2017 at the United Nations and entered into force on 22 January 2021.  United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called the Treaty “an important step towards the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and a strong demonstration of support for multilateral approaches to nuclear disarmament.”

The second Meeting of States Parties is expected to hold a thematic debate on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.  States parties will also consider the status and operation of the Treaty, addressing issues that include universality; the total elimination of nuclear weapons; and victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation and assistance.  Other topics will include scientific and technical advice for the effective implementation of the Treaty, the complementarity of the Treaty with the existing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and implementing the gender provisions of the Treaty.

The Meeting is expected to adopt a political declaration. The period since the conclusion of the first Meeting of States Parties in April 2022 saw the appointment of a Scientific Advisory Group, which will present its initial reports at the second Meeting of States Parties.  Since the first Meeting of States Parties, seven States signed the Treaty, three ratified it and one acceded to it.

The Treaty contains, inter alia, a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear-weapon-related activities.  This includes undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.  The Treaty also prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons on national territory as well as the provision of assistance to any State in the conduct of prohibited activities.

The Treaty requires States parties to assist individuals affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons, as well as to take environmental remediation measures in areas under their jurisdiction or control that have been contaminated due to the testing or use of nuclear weapons.  States parties are required to cooperate with one another to facilitate the Treaty’s implementation.

To date, 69 States have ratified or acceded to the Treaty and 93 have signed it.

Media contacts for the second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons:  Suzanne Oosterwijk, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, UN Secretariat, S-30FW, telephone: +1 917-367-2556, email: suzanne.oosterwijk@un.org.

November 25, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, weapons and war