The United Nations has decided to hold a High Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament (UNHLC) in 2018 in order to enhance progress toward the achievement of a nuclear weapons convention – a global treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. Similar UN High Level Conferences held over the past few years have been very successful, including the conference on Sustainable Development (2015) which achieved agreement on 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Climate Change (2015) which achieved the Paris Agreement and Refugees and Migrants (2016) which achieved the New York Declaration.
Abolition 2000, the global network to eliminate nuclear weapons, has established a working group to build civil society, parliamentary and government support for the 2018 UNHLC, and to influence the agenda and ensure success. Basel Peace Office is the contact point for this working group.
What could the UN High Level Conference do?
Basel Peace Office, UNFOLD ZERO and PNND have submitted a working paper to the 2017 NPT prep com on the 2018 UN High Level Conference. The working paper explores ideas for the 2018 UNHLC including:
- Encouraging states to ratify the nuclear ban treaty, which is expected to be negotiated by then;
- Moving the nuclear-armed States (and allied states) to adopt measures on nuclear-risk reduction and transparency, include lowering the operational readiness to use nuclear weapons, adopting no-first-use policies;
- Moving the nuclear-armed States to end the modernisation of nuclear weapons, and make cuts in their stockpiles;
- Renewing the UN process an establishing a Middle East Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone;
- Supporting the establishment of a North East Asian NWFZ.
Developments:
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe – which includes the parliaments of France, Russia, UK, USA, all NATO countries and other European Countries – has called ‘on all participating OSCE States to participate in the 2018 UN international conference on nuclear disarmament at the highest level, to include parliamentarians in their delegations to the conference and to pursue the adoption of nuclear risk reduction, transparency and disarmament measures at the conference.’ See OSCE Parliamentary Assembly calls for nuclear weapons stand-down.
Documents:
- UN Resolution 71/71 (2016), re-affirming the decision to hold the UN High Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament;
Events:
- Consultation meetings on the UN HLC, January – March 2017
- Side-event at the 2017 NPT Prep Com in Vienna
Join the working group:
Working group convenors: Basel Peace Office and UNFOLD ZERO. To join the working group contact info@baselpeaceoffice.org