On Friday, October 27, the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new resolution, entitled “Addressing the Legacy of Nuclear Weapons: Providing Victim Assistance and Environmental Remediation to Member States Affected by the Use or Testing of Nuclear Weapons.” The resolution was brought forward by the Republics of Kazakhstan and Kiribati, two states that have been devastatingly impacted by nuclear testing (by the Soviet Union and United Kingtom/United States, respectively). Thirty seven other co-sponsors from all continents around the globe joined Kazakhstan and Kiribati in expressing their enthusiastic support for the resolution, including Austira, Chile, Fiji, New Zealand, Philippines, and many others.
During the voting session, 171 states voted in favor of the resolution, with only four no votes (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom) and six abstentions (China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States). With one exception, only those states that possess nuclear weapons did not vote in favor of the resolution. The vote leaves the nuclear weapon possessors alone and isolated. It is time for them to join the rest of the world in not only ensuring that victims of nuclear weapons use and testing are assisted and environments remediated, but also that such victims are never created again, by committing to a timely and verifiable plan for eliminating their arsenals.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is proud to support this important work. Our Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Christian Ciobanu, serves as an Advisor to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kiribati and was intimately involved in every step of this work, from conception, to execution, to the small and yet stunning victory that is the voting result accompanying the adoption. Congratulations to Christian and our interns, including Ibraheem Muhammad Waraich, who also played a critical role!
Read the resolution HERE and below.
Individual state votes
The vote tally
Ibraheem Muhammad Waraich, Ivana Nikolić Hughes, and Christian Ciobanu after the vote
