UN adopts treaty banning nuclear weapons!

On 7 July 2017, 122 states at the United Nations voted in favour of a legally binding instrument banning nuclear weapons.

This is the result of decades of campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weapons by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and other civil society organisations. Since 2007, WILPF has been part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which has worked with governments, international organisations, academics, and activists to bring this ban to fruition.

"This treaty is an incredible new piece of international law, achieved despite the opposition of the most militarised and powerful countries in the world," said Ray Acheson, director of WILPF's disarmament programme Reaching Critical Will. "It marks a turning point in the struggle against these genocidal weapons, in which the vast majority of governments and civil society have united to create law that can change policies and practices of nuclear deterrence and help facilitate nuclear disarmament."

Only one country voted against the treaty today: the Netherlands, which hosts US nuclear weapons on its soil. The Netherlands was the only nuclear-alliance country to participate in the negotiations.

Reaching Critical Will has been providing daily analysis from the negotiations and has posted all relevant documents online.

Contact: info[at]reachingcriticalwill.org