Posts tagged United Nations

ICAN Expects Nuclear Ban Treaty to Enter into Force soon

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 28.05.2018 (IDN-InDepth News): As the world witnesses an increase in nuclear sabre-rattling in 2018, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is supporting global public movement to put pressure on governments to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. ICAN’s Treaty Coordinator Tim Wright (TW) spoke to IDN’s Neena Bhandari (NB) about disarmament, raising awareness about the risk and consequences of nuclear weapons, and why the world needs a nuclear ban treaty more than ever before.

Wright expects the Treaty to enter into force in 2019. He commends South Korea’s “great leadership” role by initiating the inter-Korean dialogue. “But true peace must be based on the total rejection of nuclear weapons by all nations, not just North Korea.” The rejection by President Donald Trump of the Iran nuclear deal, he says, “undermines the non-proliferation efforts.”

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Pacific Island countries want a world without nuclear weapons

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 22.07.2015 (IDN- InDepthNews) – As political conflicts magnify in the Middle East and North Africa with the spectre of brutal violence from terrorist organisations like ISIS, and the Ukraine crisis reignites the Cold War between the United States, its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies and Russia; it is imperative that nuclear-armed and non-nuclear states together work for total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The risk of use of nuclear weapons, by deliberation or accident, leading to total annihilation looms large more than ever before.

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island countries have been at the forefront of global efforts to implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which represents the only binding multilateral commitment to the goal of complete disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states. But the Ninth Review Conference of the NPT, from April 27 to May 22, which has three main pillars – non-proliferation, disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy – overwhelmingly reflected the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies.

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