PNND holds its 2014 Parliamentary Assembly in Washington DC, United States, February 25-27. Will your parliament be represented?
PNND Assembly Honorary Chair: US Senator Ed Markey, Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
Organised by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Foundation)
Supported by The Simons Foundation and the Kazakhstan Embassy to the United States
This Parliamentary Assembly will bring together legislators from across the political spectrum and from around the world in order to facilitate dialogue, enhance understanding and build parliamentary engagement in practical measures to advance nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and achieve a nuclear-weapons free world.
In 2007, four high-level US statesmen advanced the vision of a nuclear-weapons-free world as a goal that must be sought collectively to reverse nuclear proliferation and achieve security, but noted that such a goal was like an extremely high mountain that would take some effort to climb. Since then, the goal of a nuclear-weapons-free world has been endorsed by President Obama, leaders of other nuclear-weapon-States and their allies and by the collective membership of the United Nations.
However, governments have been unable to transcend political differences in order to achieve this goal. Parliamentarians can work together to ensure progress. In 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon contacted every legislature in the world commending PNND on its work, and reminding parliamentarians of their key roles in responding to ensure sustainable global security and work ‘on the legislative agendas needed to achieve and sustain the objective of nuclear disarmament.’
The conference will focus particularly on engagement between US legislators and legislators from key countries where progress is required to build cooperative security, phase-out the reliance on nuclear weapons and establish the framework for a secure nuclear-weapons-free world.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message being delivered to the 2012 PNND Assembly in Astana
It will follow on from the 2012 PNND Assembly in Kazakhstan which was attended by parliamentarians from over 80 countries, including from most of the nuclear-armed States, and at which the ATOM Project was launched, focusing on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons as an imperative for their abolition.
Karipbek Kuyukov, 2nd generation victim of Soviet nuclear tests, ATOM Project Honorary Ambassador, and a speaker at the 2014 PNND Assembly
PNND Conference: Climbing the Mountain
Program outline
Pre-event: Feb 25: Roundtable discussion on Diplomacy and denuclearizarion in NE Asia
Session 1: Steps and measures by nuclear-armed States
Session 2: From nuclear deterrence to cooperative security
Session 3: Regional security mechanisms - Nuclear Weapon Free Zones
Session 4: Building the framework for a Nuclear Weapons Free World
Special Session: Catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons as an imperative for nuclear abolition
Session 5: Building cross-party and inter-parliamentary cooperation
Session 6: National measures and exemplary policies
PNND Council Meeting:
Session 1: Program reports and partnerships
Session 2: Discussion on PNND draft program for 2014-2015
Session 3: Organization and outreach
For further information and to register contact info@pnnd.org
- PNND Assembly program
- Invite to the Reception: Ending the Terror of Nuclear Weapons, Kennedy Caucus Room, Senate Russell Building, Feb 27