Nuclear weapons: reading the signs of the times

Last month, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced that it had moved its so-called Doomsday Clock three minutes closer to midnight. The Doomsday Clock is internationally recognised as an indicator of how close we are to destroying ourselves with advanced equipment and technologies, most importantly with nuclear weapons.

‘To disarm’ must be in present tense, says senior UN rep in Geneva

The importance of taking action now for nuclear disarmament – rather than waiting for the future – was highlighted by Gabriele Kraatz-Wadsack from the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs in her address at the United Nations in Geneva for the first International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The International Day was established by UN General Assembly Resolution 68/32 in order to enhance ‘public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination, in order to mobilize international efforts towards achieving the common goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.’

22 January 2014: the year to negotiate an international ban on nuclear weapons?

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

The potential humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons is increasingly recognised as a global concern that ought to be at the core of all discussions of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Starting with the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), many governments have expressed their ‘deep concern at the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons’ and reaffirmed ‘the need for all States at all times to comply with applicable international law, including international humanitarian law.’ 

Seminar: The humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use: Reshaping the disarmament debate?

Date: 30 October 2013
Time: 10h00 - 12h30
Venue: Conference Room, ISS Pretoria

In November 2011, the Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopted a resolution calling on its members to raise awareness of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons. In March 2013 Norway held a global meeting to address the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and Mexico has announced that it will host a follow-up meeting in 2014.

These developments all reflect a shift from the traditional military discourse of nuclear deterrence to a focus on the humanitarian impact of these weapons, and come at a time when the call for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons is gaining momentum.

This joint International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – ISS seminar will discuss the humanitarian effects of nuclear weapons and explore the way forward for states and civil society.

Welcome and opening remarks: Noel Stott, Senior Research Fellow, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pretoria

The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons: the current dynamic: Dr Patricia Lewis, Chatham House, London

The way forward: Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO), South Africa; His Excellency Ambassador Héctor Valezzi, Embassy of Mexico, Pretoria, and Sarah Swart, Regional Legal Advisor, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Pretoria

This event is made possible through funding provided by the Royal Norwegian Government. The ISS is also grateful for the support of the following core partners: the governments of Norway, Sweden, Australia and Denmark.

Venue: Conference Room
ISS Pretoria

RSVP: Ms Agar Ngwenya
Phone: +27 12 346 9500
Email: angwenya@issafrica.org

Enquiries: Noel Stott
Phone: +27 12 346 9500
Email: nstott@issafrica.org

High-level meeting issues resounding call for banning and eliminating nuclear weapons

Ray Acheson and Beatrice Fihn | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF
26 September 2013

The overwhelming majority of countries condemned the continued existence of nuclear weapons and called for their banning and elimination at the first ever UN high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament on 26 September 2013. While some of the nuclear-armed states spoke disparagingly about the meeting’s importance, the rest of the international community demanded immediate action to remove the scourge of these weapons of terror once and for all.

The majority of participating states clearly voiced their frustration with the perpetual lack of progress and expressed their sense of urgency at achieving concrete goals. “Our collective efforts to move away from the nuclear abyss have remained too modest in ambition and brought only limited success,” warned the President of Austria. “Nuclear weapons should be stigmatized, banned and eliminated before they abolish us.”

24 April: Joint Statement delivered by Ambassador Minty, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations in Geneva on: “The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons”

Source: IAEA

Please find a link below to a Joint Statement delivered by Ambassador Abdul Samad Minty, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations in Geneva on: “The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons”, at the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Geneva, 24 April 2013.

South Africa on behalf of 77 members on the Humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, Ambassador Abdul Samad Minty

ISS Today: Africa and the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons

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

Although the use of nuclear weapons is widely recognised as being inhumane, and despite an international agreement reached some 40 years ago to further the goal of nuclear disarmament, some states continue to aspire to possess them as a symbol of their power.

However, developing or maintaining nuclear weapons is not a symbol of strength, but rather a constant reminder of the catastrophic humanitarian suffering they caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their mere existence today is therefore also a continuous threat of this occurring again. According to the African Union (AU), the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems remains one of the greatest threats to international peace and security, and a nuclear weapon detonation, whether intentional or accidental, could have catastrophic short- and long-term humanitarian, economic, developmental and environmental effects. Such a detonation would have global implications.

Towards a global ban on nuclear weapons – The Role of African States

From 5-6 June 2012, the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) in collaboration with the Institute for Security Studies hosted a roundtable discussion entitled “Towards a global ban on nuclear weapons – The Role of African States”, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.




For more information about the event, download the documents below:

• Chairpersons summary of the proceedings
• ILPI discussion paper on Towards a Global ban on nuclear weapons – The role of African states
• ILPI background paper by Helle Winge Laursen on An IntroductIon to the Issue of Nuclear Weapons in Africa

Nuclear Weapons and their Consequences: The Relevance of International Humanitarian Law

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

According to the African Union (AU), the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems remains one of the greatest threats to international peace and security. This was reaffirmed during the recent preparatory committee (PrepCom) meeting for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), held from 30 April to 11 May 2012 in Vienna. At the meeting the AU also reaffirmed Africa’s continued commitment to realising the goals and objectives of the NPT; to a world without nuclear weapons in which nuclear science and technology is [only] harnessed for the development of humankind.