The Secretary-General participates in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
New York, 27 November – 1 December 2023. The Secretary-General of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), Ambassador Flávio Roberto Bonzanini, participates in the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
In his statement at the High-Level segment, the Secretary-General:
• Reiterated the historic commitment of Latin America and the Caribbean to nuclear disarmament.
• Stressed that the TPNW, by establishing an international norm prohibiting nuclear weapons, joins the path towards the total elimination of this type of weapons of mass destruction that has been marked by the Treaty of Tlatelolco and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
• Called on all States Parties to the Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones to accede and/or redouble their efforts to advance their TPNW ratification processes.
• Reiterated OPANAL’s support in discussions on the design, structure and functioning of this new competent international institution designated to ensure compliance with key provisions of the TPNW.
• Stressed that the final declaration should reflect the importance of nuclear-weapon-free zones and their contribution to general and complete nuclear disarmament, as well as the complementarity of the treaties establishing these zones with the TPNW itself.
• Appealed to all States Parties; Signatory States; Observers and civil society organizations to redouble their efforts to strengthen, consolidate and universalize the TPNW.
Chaired by Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente (Mexico), the Second Meeting will review the reports of the working groups on the implementation of the Treaty in the interim period, and will lay the groundwork for key decisions, such as actions for the universalization and institutionalization of the TPNW, its complementarity with other instruments, among others. The Meeting will also include a thematic discussion on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.