The Secretariat of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) is pleased that the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has been awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
ICAN is a coalition of civil society organizations from more than 100 countries. The Campaign's mission is to advocate for the adoption and entry into force of an international treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons.
El Nobel Committee decided to award ICAN the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in drawing attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its efforts to promote the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, concluded on July 7, 2017 at the United Nations.
The OPANAL Secretariat considers that the Nobel Peace Prize is well deserved for ICAN and that it represents an opportunity to continue promoting the efforts of the international community towards the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons, a commitment that was reflected in the first resolution adopted in history by the United Nations General Assembly.
In 1982, the Mexican Ambassador Alfonso García Robles, President of the negotiations of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco), was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the establishment of the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone of Latin America and the Caribbean, which OPANAL is responsible for ensuring.