MAPW has urged Foreign Minister Penny Wong to inject much needed momentum into global disarmament efforts at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly First Committee.
The First Committee “deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.”
At the 78th session, meeting throughout October 2023, the First Committee will vote on three key resolutions:
- Resolution acknowledging the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons
- Resolution welcoming the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
- Resolution on Providing Victim Assistance and Environmental Remediation to States Affected by Nuclear Weapons
MAPW is calling on Australia to vote ‘yes’ to all three resolutions, demonstrating in a letter to Minister Wong that positive votes are rational, rooted in a body of irrefutable evidence, and consistent with the Australian Government’s stated commitment to the TPNW, nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, as well as the Australian Labor Party’s 2023 commitment to consider assistance to lands and peoples affected by nuclear testing.
We told the Foreign Minister, “We urge you to seize the opportunity to advance Australia’s interests and inject urgently-needed momentum into global efforts towards a nuclear-weapons free world. Time is not on our side, and we must not fail in this endeavour.”
Follow the proceedings and outcomes of the First Committee:
Reaching Critical Will, First Committee Monitor
Reaching Critical Will, First Committee Monitor
United Nations, live stream