The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is observed on 26 September every year and a high-level meeting is held to mark the occasion.
Antonio Guterres, the UN’s top official, said in his speech that there should be no place for these machines of death in our world.
He warned that after the worst days of the Cold War, the dark shadow of nuclear weapons is looming again.
The Secretary-General expressed concern that tensions and rhetoric were continuing on the nuclear issue and the threat of using nuclear weapons. The arms race is likely to escalate again.
Norms established decades ago against the use, proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons are eroding.
Learning from the past
The UN chief said he had heard about the experiences of hibakusha – survivors of the 1945 atomic attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It clearly indicates how going forward on the nuclear path could end.
“Yet, nearly 80 years later, nuclear-weapon states are still rolling the dice, resisting disarmament measures and assuming that somehow, luck will always be on their side.”
‘Don’t gamble with the future’
The UN chief called on nuclear-weapon states to stop gambling with humanity’s future, keep their commitments and fulfill their disarmament obligations.
The Secretary-General said these countries must promise not to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances until they are eliminated.
He called on Russia and the US to return to the process of reducing nuclear weapons, and that other countries should follow suit.
Antonio Guterres said disarmament and non-proliferation are two sides of the same coin and countries need to understand the urgency of the issue.
He said a resolution was adopted to reactivate the global disarmament system to move the world towards the elimination of nuclear weapons at the next conference.