UNFOLD ZERO presents joint declaration to the UN

UNFOLD ZERO presented a Joint Statement of Mayors, Parliamentarians and Religious Leaders for a Nuclear Weapon Free World to Mogens Lykketoft, the President of the UN General Assembly, as world leaders gathered at the UN for the opening session of the UN on its 70th anniversary year in late September (see Religious Leaders and Legislators present nuclear abolition call to the United Nations).

The statement, highlights the moral and security imperative to achieve nuclear abolition, and notes that ‘funds that could instead be used to reverse climate change, eliminate poverty and address other social and economic needs.’ It calls specifically on world leaders to negotiate ‘a nuclear weapons convention or framework of agreements that eliminate nuclear weapons,‘ a proposal advanced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and supported by over 130 countries.

It was presented to Mr Lykketoft by Saber Chowdhury (President of the Inter Parliamentary Union), Dr Willam Vendley (Secretary-General of Religions for Peace), Randy Rydell (Mayors for Peace) and Jonathan Granoff (United Religions Initiative).

UNFOLD ZERO also circulated the statement to government delegations at the United Nations in October as they deliberated on draft nuclear disarmament resolutions.

UN General Assembly adopts nuclear disarmament resolutions

On December 7, 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 23 resolutions on nuclear weapons which had been discussed and adopted in the UN First Committee over October to November.

The resolutions included many that are adopted annually, sometimes with minor edits. There were also a number of new resolutions this year, including on the ethical imperative for nuclear disarmament, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, the humanitarian pledge, auniversal declaration for a nuclear weapon free world and one to re-establish an Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) to take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations.

The OEWG would meet for a number of sessions in Geneva and report back to the UN General Assembly at the end of the year.

UNFOLD ZERO is consulting with government delegations in Geneva to ascertain the possibilities and prospects for progress on nuclear disarmament through the OEWG. We will report on this in a subsequent update. For more information see UN re-opens the door to a nuclear-weapon-free world.
UNFOLD ZERO is a platform for United Nations (UN) focused initiatives and actions for the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world. It’s a project of Basel Peace Office, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, PNND, PragueVision, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace and Global Security Institute.
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