“All states must intensify their efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons and achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.” That was the message delivered by Switzerland on behalf of 35 states in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly today.
The joint statement, which focuses on the “humanitarian dimension of nuclear disarmament”, gathered twice as much support as a similar statement delivered at the Non-Proliferation Treaty meeting in Vienna in May.
ICAN campaigners across the world mobilized to encourage their countries to sign onto the First Committee statement, and all in a few short days. It is this type of cooperation and commitment that we will need as we build towards the conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons taking place in Oslo in March 2013.
As the statement says: "Civil society plays a crucial role in raising the awareness about the devastating humanitarian consequences as well as the critical international humanitarian law implications of nuclear weapons." ICAN would like to thank everyone who took action and motivated parliamentarians, governments, civil society organizations and diplomats to support this statement.
22 October 2012