UNFOLD ZERO Newsletter: International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Posted: 4th October 2023
UN Secretary General and President of the General Assembly:
- Risk of nuclear annihilation is a haunting reality of the present
- We must employ dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to end the nuclear threat
Civil society calls to the nuclear-armed states:
- Don’t even THINK about Starting a Nuclear War
- Replace nuclear deterrence with common security
On September 26, International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, the President of the UN General Assembly Ambassador Dennis Francis (Trinidad and Tobago) held a High-Level Plenary Meeting for leaders of the world to discuss ideas and initiatives to rid the world of the nuclear threat.
“The risk of nuclear annihilation is not a chapter from our past” said Ambassador Francis as he opened the meeting. “It is a haunting reality of the present.” (Watch the full session on UNTV).
Civil society activists around the world used the International Day to call on nuclear armed statesto affirm and strengthen the norm/practice of the non-use of nuclear weapons, replace nuclear deterrence with common security and take action to implement their obligations to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.
In addition, NoFirstUse Global organized a social media action for the day entitled Don’t even THINK about starting a nuclear war.
Ambassador Dennis Francis, President of the UN General Assembly, opening the High Level UN Plenary Meeting on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
UN Secretary-General to the UN High Level Meeting, September 26
“Nuclear sabers are again being rattled” warned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to leaders from around the world participating in the UN High Level Meeting on September 26. “Nuclear arsenals are being modernized to make these weapons faster, more accurate, and stealthier… This is madness. We must reverse course.” he said.
” We must re-deploy the timeless tools of dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to ease tensions and end the nuclear threat. This dialogue must extend to all categories of nuclear weapons.”
“And it must address the increasing interplay between strategic and conventional weapons, and the nexus between nuclear weapons and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Humans must always be in control of, and responsible for any decision to use, nuclear weapons.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressing the UN High Level Meeting on September 26
Prevent nuclear war and replace nuclear deterrence with common security
Civil society organizations used the occasion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons to call on all governments to:
- Take further action to prevent nuclear war including by adoption of no-first-use policies;
- Replace nuclear deterrence with common security;
- Commit to achieving the global elimination of nuclear weapons no later than 2045, the 100th anniversary of the United Nations.
Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, Foreign Minister of Indonesia, speaking at the UN High Level Meeting on the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons,September 26
Don’t even THINK about starting a nuclear war
On September 26, members of NoFirstUse Global and other civil society organizations undertook the social media action Don’t even THINK about starting a nuclear war.
Activists took photos of themselves holding the sign ‘Don’t even think about starting a nuclear war’ outside the embassies/consulates of the nine nuclear armed states.
The sign is a take-off of the no-parking sign ‘Don’t even think about parking here’. It indicates that the nuclear armed states should adhere to international law prohibiting the threat and use of nuclear weapons, just as drivers should adhere to laws about parking.
Copies of the photos, plus an accompanying letter with the calls outlined above were then sent to the respective embassies/consulates.
‘Don’t even THINK about starting a nuclear war’ social media actions were held outside the Whitehouse (USA) and the Washington DC embassies of the other nuclear-armed states. Pictured immediately above are actions outside the Whitehouse, Chinese Embassy and Russian embassy. Further up is a photo from the action outside the Pakistan embassy in Washington DC. Yours sincerelyUNFOLD ZERO