The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons reminds us that a peaceful future depends on ending the nuclear threat.
Geopolitical mistrust and competition have spiked the nuclear risk to Cold War levels. Meanwhile, hard-won progress over many decades to prevent the use, spread and testing of nuclear weapons is being undone.
On this important Day, we re-affirm our commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons and the humanitarian catastrophe their use would unleash.
This means nuclear-weapon States leading the way by meeting their disarmament obligations, and committing to never use nuclear weapons under any circumstances.
It means strengthening the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, including through the Treaties on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
It means all countries that have not yet ratified the Comprehensive-Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to do so without delay, and for those States that possess nuclear weapons to ensure a moratorium on all nuclear testing.
It means taking into account the evolving nuclear order, and addressing the blurring lines between strategic and conventional weapons and the nexus with new and emerging technologies.
Above all, it means deploying the timeless tools of dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to ease tensions and end the nuclear threat. The recently launched Policy Brief on a New Agenda for Peace calls on Member States to urgently recommit to this important cause.
The only way to eliminate the nuclear risk is to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Let’s work together to banish these devices of destruction to the history books, once and for all.
United Nations Secretary-General.
OTHER STATEMENTS: Letter from the President General Assembly on the occasion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023; September 26th and Statement of the Executive Secretary of the CTBTO on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023.
EVENTS: The United Nations General Assembly will hold the high-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023 on Tuesday, 26 September 2023 at 10.00 a.m. in Conference Room 4, United Nations Headquarters, New York. The high-level meeting will, inter alia, raise awareness about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination in order to mobilize international efforts towards achieving the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world. Further information on the programme and inscription on the list of speakers will be conveyed in due course. Delegations are encouraged to be represented at the highest possible level.The Russian Federation announced on 21 February 2023 that it will suspend its participation in the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (“New START”).
The first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons took place at the Vienna International Center from 28 July – 11 August 2023.
The second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will take place at the United Nations Headquarters from 27 November – 1 December 2023.
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