Banning nuclear weapons: point of no return

February 19, 2014 by IPB

“The Nayarit conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons demonstrated beyond doubt that preventing nuclear catastrophe is the responsibility and right of all. As Austria picks up the baton, the challenge will be to move forward in a process that is open to all and blockable by none” says Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and Co-Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

[…]

As the Nayarit Conference applauded the decision by Austria’s Foreign Minister to host the third Conference in Vienna later in the year, the spotlight now turns to Europe, which has the highest concentration of nuclear-dependent countries, including Britain, France, Russia and NATO, with US nuclear weapons still stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey.

Humanitarian perspectives are changing the way the world looks at nuclear weapons. Side by side in Nayarit were representatives from 146 states, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), many national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, the World Health Organisation (WHO), humanitarian response organisations, academics and civil society organisations from all around the world, who were coordinated through the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

Source: Open Democracy

To read the full article please click here.

For more information please check Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons websites.