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On 6 May 2010, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations at an event organized by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on “Advancing Nuclear Disarmament: The Power of Parliaments." “Honourable Parliamentarians…I am also profoundly aware of who you represent – those who actually pay for nuclear weapons. It is the world's taxpayers who fund the development and storage of nuclear arms. But tomorrow, in the famous words of John F. Kennedy, due to “accident, miscalculation, or madness,” they could be paying a different -- and much higher -- price. We must stop this senseless waste of resources… There is a compelling need to start negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention…”
- H.E. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, 6 May 2010 (excerpt)
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(L-R): Raphael Chegeni, MP (Tanzania), Edine von Herold, MP (Costa Rica), Alyn Ware (PNND), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ambassador Anda Filip (IPU), Nicky Wagner, MP (New Zealand) and Jonathan Granoff (GSI). |
Other speakers on the panel included IPU Permanent Observer to the United Nations Anda Filip, PNND Co-President Raphael Chegeni MP ( Tanzania), PNND Council Member Edine von Herold MP ( Costa Rica), PNND New Zealand Deputy-Chair Nicky Wagner MP ( New Zealand) and Global Security Institute President Jonathan Granoff.
The event was held in order to bring the voices of parliaments and parliamentarians to the government delegations and non-governmental observers at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and in particular to urge progress on the UN Secretary-General’s five-point plan for nuclear disarmament – which includes the call for a Nuclear Weapons Convention.
Mr Ban noted that “Ten years ago, the NPT Review Conference described the total elimination of nuclear arsenals as “the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.” Mr Ban urged parliamentarians and civil society to “take that message back to your capitals and your governments,” in order to ensure that the NPT Conference takes definite action before it closes on 28 May.
You can watch the opening part of the event and the UN Secretary-General’s presentation (21 minutes), or you can view just Mr Ban’s presentation (10 minutes). (requires RealPlayer) Written text of his speech is at "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - Advancing Nuclear Disarmament: The Power of Parliaments."
Following Ban Ki-moon’s speech on 6 May, PNND presented the UN Secretary-General with two key documents:
The documents were also distributed to government delegations and NGOs attending the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
On 6 May the Inter-Parliamentary Union, one of the few international organizations (INOs) to be granted speaking rights at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, called on the NPT to advance the United Nations Secretary-General’s plan for nuclear disarmament. In a speech delivered by Nicky Wagner, a member of the New Zealand Parliament, the IPU noted that:
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PNND member Nicky Wagner, MP |
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“In April of last year, delegations from over 120 IPU member parliaments adopted a consensus Resolution entitled Advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and securing the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: the role of parliaments. That Resolution, which was subsequently also circulated in the UN General Assembly, includes a series of practical recommendations on what parliaments can and should do so as to ensure universal ratification of CTBT, promote the UN Secretary General’s five-point plan for nuclear disarmament, and support a number of concurrent steps.”
The IPU statement also noted that:
“Current barriers to nuclear disarmament could be overcome through commencing a preparatory process which would explore the legal, technical, institutional and political requirements for a nuclear-weapons free world. This process could be guided, but would not be bound by, the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention circulated by the UN Secretary-General…. The Nuclear Weapons Convention provides a non-discriminatory approach which builds on currently existing mechanisms, such as the CTBTO and IAEA - and fills in the gaps.”
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