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International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

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International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
The Non-Aligned Movement event marking Nuclear Weapons Elimination Day at the 2019 IAEA conference
TypeInternational
SignificanceAdvocacy for nuclear disarmament[1]
Date26 September
Next time26 September 2025 (2025-09-26)
First time2014; 10 years ago (2014)

The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, also known as Nuclear Weapons Elimination Day, is an international observance declared by the United Nations, held on 26 September every year. The day promotes the cause of nuclear disarmament. The observance was established in 2013.

History

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On 26 September 2013, the UN General Assembly held its first ever high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament; the resolution that convened the meeting stated that the UN was "Convinced that nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons are essential to remove the danger of nuclear war."[2] On 3 December, the General Assembly passed resolution 68/32, affirming that the high-level meeting had endorsed the abolition of nuclear weapons, and declaring an annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on the anniversary of the meeting.[3][4] 26 September also corresponds with the anniversary of the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident, in which errors in a Soviet early warning system generated false reports of incoming ICBMs.[5] However, the resolution declaring the observance did not make explicit reference to this co-occurrence.[3]

In March 2014, the Inter-Parliamentary Union passed a resolution calling on parliamentarians to "promote and commemorate" Nuclear Weapon Elimination Day and to work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide.[6] The first observance took place in September 2014.[7] In May 2018, following up on the 2013 high-level meeting and in accordance with resolution 68/32, the UN held the High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament. NGOs and academics, as well as politicians from member states, were invited to participate.[8] For the 2019 Nuclear Weapons Elimination Day, a ceremony was held at UN Headquarters in which 12 states signed and 5 ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which had been finalised in 2017.[9] The treaty came into force in 2021.[1]

On the 2023 Day, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that "geopolitical mistrust and competition" had raised the risk of nuclear conflict back to Cold War levels. He again reaffirmed the UN's "commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons".[10][11] In the UK, a group of activists from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament were denied access to the US Air Force-operated base RAF Lakenheath, where they planned to carry out an "inspection".[12] No US nuclear weapons are based in the UK (as of 2023), but analysts have said they could be returned to Lakenheath in the future, where they were stationed from 1954 to 2007.[13][14] In Japan, a group of NGOs and the UN Information Office held a symposium on nuclear disarmament, joined by officials from the Foreign Ministry.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons". United Nations. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  2. ^ "67/39. High-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear disarmament" (PDF). United Nations. 3 December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2013" (PDF). United Nations. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  4. ^ Johnson, Jesse (26 September 2023). "Nuclear specter rises as world marks day for eliminating weapons". Japan Times. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  5. ^ Arora, Summit (25 September 2023). "International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023". Adda 24/7. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  6. ^ "TOWARDS A NUCLEAR-WEAPON-FREE WORLD: THE CONTRIBUTION OF PARLIAMENTS". Inter-Parliamentary Union. 20 March 2014. Archived from the original on 19 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  7. ^ Tanter, Richard; Ruff, Tilman (26 September 2014). "A day to demand that the world wake up and avert nuclear doom". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  8. ^ "High-level conference on nuclear disarmament". Reaching Critical Will. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  9. ^ Banerjee, Santo D. (29 September 2019). "12 States Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty at Signature Ceremony". InDepthNews. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  10. ^ "UN Chief Deplores 'Madness' Of New Nuclear Arms Race". Barron's. AFP. 26 September 2023. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Only way to end nuclear risk 'is to eliminate nuclear weapons': Guterres". UN News. United Nations. 25 September 2023. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  12. ^ Lazenby, Peter (24 September 2023). "Campaigners denied right to access military base for 'inspection'". Morning Star. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  13. ^ Borger, Julian; Sabbagh, Dan (29 August 2023). "Airbase project could pave way for UK to host US nuclear weapons". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  14. ^ Korda, Matt; Kristensen, Hans (28 August 2023). "Increasing Evidence that the US Air Force's Nuclear Mission May Be Returning to UK Soil". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Symposium held to discuss peace and abolition of nuclear arms". NHK World-Japan News. 25 September 2023. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
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