Press Release: Preventing criminals from acquiring WMDs is a priority for Africa

Pretoria, South Africa – Contrary to some perceptions, Africa is leading the way in preventing criminals, extremists and non-state actors from acquiring the material used to develop weapons of mass destruction.

This is due, to a large extent, to the leading role played by the African Union (AU) on the issue over the past four years.

Africa’s progress on ensuring the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was debated at a roundtable discussion today hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

The event asked whether African states are implementing UN Security Council resolution 1540 effectively, and what challenges remain.

Resolution 1540, which was adopted 11 years ago, calls on states to prevent criminals, militant groups and other non-state actors from acquiring or using weapons of mass destruction. This is a major security and developmental issue for African states, given the dramatic consequences if such weapons were ever to be used.

‘Too often, Africa is presented as a continent which lags behind in implementing resolution 1540 and in undertaking necessary measures to prevent non-state actors from getting access to weapons of mass destruction. This is simply not true’, said Raphael Prenat, keynote speaker at the meeting and a member of the Group of Experts that supports the work of the 1540 Committee. ‘A lot has been achieved and, in some aspects, Africa can even be seen as a champion’.

Much of this success can be attributed to the AU, which works in synergy with other African stakeholders.

The AU is playing a leading role in efforts to implement resolution 1540 in Africa

‘The AU is one of the unsung heroes,’ said Nicolas Kasprzyk, ISS consultant and former 1540 Committee expert, commenting on the leading role played by the AU in fostering efforts to implement resolution 1540 on the continent. ‘It facilitates dialogue and cooperation among African partners, such as the regional economic communities and the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, with tangible success on 1540-related matters’.

The AU was one of the first international organisations to designate a focal point for resolution 1540 in 2011. In January 2013, the AU requested its Commission to take all necessary steps to implement the proposals and recommendations made at a workshop hosted by the South African government in collaboration with the AU in November 2012 on African states’ implementation of resolution 1540.

Since then, the AU has steadily raised its profile on 1540-related matters, encouraging national and sub-regional efforts, and providing training to national focal points. The AU also plans to host an assistance conference in early 2016 to facilitate the delivery of support to African states. The event was part of a project launched by the ISS in 2014 to help African states implement resolution 1540.

‘African states and African organisations are making visible efforts to build their non-proliferation capacity’, says Noel Stott, senior research fellow at the ISS. ‘We all share a collective responsibility to ensure that those efforts bring fruitful results, and that the continent does not become a theatre to the use of the deadliest of weapons – a situation that would severely exacerbate Africa’s developmental challenges’.

Read more on Twitter: @issafrica #UNSCR1540
Media enquiries: Nicolas Kasprzyk, nkasprzyk@issafrica.org ,+27 81 794 4947

ISS informs the 2016 review of UNSC resolution 1540

On 28 and 29 May 2015, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the 1540 Committee Group of Experts, hosted a first-of-its-kind meeting on United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution 1540, to review progress made since its adoption 11 years ago, and discuss how to accelerate its implementation.

UNSC resolution 1540 obliges states to keep nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their delivery systems away from criminals, militant groups and other non-state actors.

‘ISS is regarded as a key African partner in supporting implementation of resolution 1540,’ says Nicolas Kasprzyk, ISS consultant and former 1540 expert. ‘By hosting this meeting, the ISS has helped the 1540 Committee make its first substantive contribution to the 1540 comprehensive review process, which must be completed before December 2016.’

The ISS has been actively supporting African states with implementing resolution 1540 for a number of years. It recently launched a dedicated project to enhance cooperation with African governments, international organisations and other partners in this area.

The meeting brought together 12 of the 18 former members of the 1540 Committee Group of Experts, three current experts, a senior UN official, and representatives of the Republic of Korea, which chaired the 1540 Committee from 2013 – 2014.

The experts assessed the current status of resolution 1540, shared lessons from practical experience, and recommended concrete steps to help member states put the resolution into practice.

The papers presented by the former experts will be published by the ISS to encourage rigorous implementation, and inform the 2016 comprehensive review.

For more information, contact:
Nicolas Kasprzyk, ISS Pretoria: +27 81 794 4947, nkasprzyk@issafrica.org

Why is Pretoria so jealously guarding it fissile material?

In the early hours of 28 July 2012, three people, one of them an 82-year-old nun named Megan Rice, broke into the Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex near the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Y-12 is where all of America’s highly enriched uranium (HEU) – for making nuclear weapons – is made or stored: about 400 000 kg of it, according to The New Yorker magazine.

Rice and two others from the Plowshare anti-nuclear activist group managed to cut through three fences, paint slogans and splash blood on the football-field-sized building housing the Y-12 arsenal before a few of the 500-odd security guards finally arrived to arrest them. This demonstration by Plowshare – one of many over the last 35 years – was designed in part to show that America’s nuclear weapons were not secure from theft by terrorists. Which it did.

UN General Assembly First Committee commences in New York

The 2013 session of the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security will meet from 7 October - 5 November 2013 in New York. The Committee will be chaired by Ambassador Ibrahim O. A. Dabbashi of Libya.

Reaching Critical Will (RCW) provides the most up to date information on developments at the First Committee. In preparation, RCW has produced a briefing book which provides a snap shot of some of the most pressing issues for this year's discussions. The book can be downloaded here.

For other information regarding the First Committee, please click here.

2013 NPT Preparatory Committee

The Second Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is on now from 22 April–3 May 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. The chair of the meeting is Ambassador Cornel Feruta of Romania.

Calendar of events
NPT News in Review - subscribe now!
Statements
Documents
National reports
Information for civil society

Also see the official UN website.

Source: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/npt/2013

Africa, Nuclear Security and the 2012 Summit

by Scott Firsing

Many hold a view that the terms Africa and nuclear security have no correlation. This is a false and dangerous perception.

South Africa’s Energy Minister Dipuo Peters announced on Tuesday 28 February 2012 that the country plans to use nuclear energy as part of diversified mix to help cure South Africa’s energy crisis and to take a step closer to cleaner energy. The plan – called the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2010) – places specific emphasis on various technologies including gas, imports, nuclear, biomass, renewables (wind, solar and hydro).

As it stands, about 90% of South Africa’s energy, like most African countries, is produced from burning coal, which in turn has a negative impact on the world’s climate. And like South Africa, most African countries are looking towards nuclear power as a potential alternative to fossil fuels. South Africa’s Koeberg nuclear power station, located 30km north of Cape Town, is the only nuclear power station in South Africa and the entire African continent. However, this will change in the coming years/decades.

Africa and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Noel Stott, Senior Research Fellow, Transnational Threats and International Crime, ISS Pretoria

In May 2012, the first in a series of three preparatory committee meetings for the 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will be held in Vienna, Austria.

In 2010, African States Parties to the NPT praised the fact that 190 States were able to adopt a final document at its 8th Review Conference held at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York from 3 – 28 May. Of the previous seven review conferences, only three have managed to adopt a final consensus document: in 1985, 1995, and 2000. The document consists of a 64-step action plan and the Conference President’s interpretation of States Parties’ review of each article of the NPT.

The NPT, which entered into force in 1970 and was extended indefinitely in 1995, is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars: to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to preserve the right of states to the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. As such, it presently represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of nuclear disarmament – a vision shared by many of an eventual world without nuclear weapons – given that the threat of use or actual use of nuclear weapons, either by design or by accident, continues to be one of the most fundamental threats to global human and environmental security.

Although the Review Conference did produce a final document, many compromises were made, especially by Non-Nuclear Weapon States and specifically by members of the Non-Aligned Movement, including all African States. As a result, the Non-Aligned Movement has promised to maintain pressure on the Nuclear Weapon States to make real progress in eliminating their nuclear arsenals over the next few years and to “vigorously pursue” a world free from nuclear weapons by the year 2025.

As a lead up to the upcoming meetings in Vienna, in May and to continue to ensure that African States build on the momentum created by the 2010 Review Conference, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Wilton Park, which is considered one of the world’s leading institutions for in-depth discussion of international policy issues and challenges will be co-hosting a Conference titled ‘Africa and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime’ outside Pretoria, South Africa from 4 to 7 March 2012.

The conference objectives are to assess the present and future role of Africa in the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the prospects for a more co-ordinated policy in light of the current NPT Review Cycle, the need for increased technical co-operation and assistance, the imperative to prevent toxic dumping in Africa and the need to enhance the role of African States in disarmament and non-proliferation initiatives more generally. Often perceived as marginal to the steps needed for total nuclear weapon disarmament, having declared the continent and its associated islands a nuclear weapon-free zone in 1996, Africa makes up almost a third of all NPT States. As such, African States have a crucial role in advocating for the need forall to take the necessary steps in achieving the ultimate goal of a world entirely free of nuclear weapons, while all should also be ‘allowed to enjoy the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes’ – as Tanzania argued at the 2010 Review Conference.

Only by strengthening the capacity of African states to participate in the 2012-2015 review cycle and the development of an African programme to implement the 64-point action plan, can we build on the momentum created by the success of the 2010 NPT Review Conference and thus fully participate in making sure that nuclear weapons are forever relegated to history’s dustbin

First Committee Monitor: Final Edition

Final Edition
2 November 2011

Please find the final edition of the First Committee Monitor, the weekly publication from the NGO Working Group on the First Committee, online for download in PDF or viewing in HTML. The editorial for this week's edition is also included below.

The First Committee Monitor is coordinated, edited, and distributed by the Reaching Critical Will project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Reaching Critical Will also collects and posts online all statements, draft resolutions, and other documentation from the First Committee.

In this edition:

• Editorial: Stalemate continues; more money goes to nuclear weapons
• Disarmament machinery
• Nuclear disarmament
• Nuclear proliferation
• Nuclear energy and the fuel cycle
• Nuclear weapon free zones
• Negative security assurances
• Nuclear testing
• Missile and anti-missile systems
• Outer space
• Biological and chemical weapons
• Arms trade treaty
• Small arms and light weapons
• Cluster munitions and landmines
• Other conventional weapon issues
• Regional disarmament and security
• Information technology and international security
• Disarmament and development
• Disarmament education

If your delegation or organisation is interested in advertising an event or publication in the First Committee Monitor, please email info[at]reachingcriticalwill.org.

 

If you are interested in supporting the First Committee Monitor or Reaching Critical Will's other activities, please write to us!

 

In peace,

Ray Acheson, RCW Project Director

UN General Assembly plenary on revitalizing the CD

From 27-28 July, the United Nations General Assembly held a plenary meeting on revitalising the Conference on Disarmament (CD). In his statement, the Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, stressed that "for too long the United Nations multilateral disarmament machinery, in particular the Conference on Disarmament, has failed us".

A number of delegations made statements, including the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the recently-formed Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative. 

Copies of these statements can be found on the Reaching Critical Will website.

The General Assembly meeting in New York coincided with the 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues in Matsumoto, Japan, where the head of the UN nuclear agency stressed that all States must comply with their obligations under the international nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty.

SA marks twentieth anniversary of move from nuclear weapons to nonproliferation

Pelindaba

On July 10, 1991, South Africa signed the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, better known as the Non Proliferation Treaty and most usually referred to simply as the NPT. This marked the final step in South Africa’s transition from a nuclear weapons State to a country with a nuclear programme that was and is exclusively and verifiably devoted to peaceful ends.

In the process, South Africa became the first country with nuclear weapons to give them up. That nuclear weapons programme, whatever its political or military advisability (or lack thereof), represented a very significant South African scientific, technological and engineering achievement.

For the full article, click HERE