New Zealand calls for support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, speaking jointly with the Prime Minister of Singapore at a press conference in Singapore, once again endorsed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons with the following statement:

New Zealand remains opposed to nuclear weapons and encourages all nations to accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It is a huge mistake to think that nuclear weapons could one day make the world a safer place for us or our children and grandchildren.”

New Zealand was one of the first countries to sign the 2017 GCU Convention, the 14th country to ratify it and one of ten countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia to support the treaty. The country participated in the 2017 negotiations for a GCU at the United Nations in New York and was among the 122 countries that voted for its adoption. New Zealand also served as Deputy Head of the Negotiations Bureau.

In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, New Zealand noted that “there will be limits to the normative scope and impact of our treaty, at least in the short term, but so were early efforts to ban chemical and biological weapons.” Zealand said. In 2016, New Zealand sponsored a United Nations General Assembly resolution authorizing countries to begin negotiations on a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their complete elimination.”

Translation from English by Chiara Paul of Pressenza’s volunteer translation team. Volunteers Needed!

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Cover Photo: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. picture: Ulysses Pellet on me flickr / CC BY 2.0