ASTANA — The Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will convene at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York on March 3-7, bringing together global leaders to advance nuclear disarmament efforts. Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Akan Rakhmetullin has been elected as the meeting’s president, reinforcing Kazakhstan’s long-standing advocacy for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Photo credit: Ari Beser/ICAN
Adopted on July 7, 2017, and entering into force on Jan. 22, 2021, the TPNW is the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty negotiated in more than two decades.
“The treaty is an important step towards the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and a strong demonstration of support for multilateral approaches to nuclear disarmament,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his video message on the occasion of the entry into force of the TPNW in 2021.
The TPNW contains a comprehensive set of prohibitions on nuclear weapon-related activities, including the developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing, and using or threatening to use nuclear weapons. It also bans deploying such weapons on national territory and prohibits assistance to any state engaging in prohibited activities. Additionally, the TPNW requires state parties to assist individuals affected by nuclear weapons and to undertake environmental remediation measures in contaminated areas.
Discussions at the upcoming meeting will focus on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear conflict, universal adherence to the treaty, victim assistance, environmental remediation and international cooperation. The agenda will also include scientific and technical advice on treaty implementation and gender considerations in disarmament efforts.
The meeting will open in the Trusteeship Council at UN Headquarters with remarks from the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, high-level officials from states parties, and representatives of organizations advocating for nuclear disarmament, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Survivors of nuclear explosions will also share their testimonies.
In addition to official sessions, a series of side events and exhibitions will highlight various aspects of nuclear disarmament. Kazakhstan, in collaboration with other states and organizations, will host events on nuclear justice and the cost of nuclear weapons, drawing on the legacy of the Semipalatinsk test site, where decades of nuclear testing caused lasting environmental and health consequences. The program will also feature the documentary “I Want to Live On” and testimonies from Kazakh survivors of nuclear testing.
Exhibitions will be displayed throughout UN venues, featuring works such as “Nuclear Test Impacts Map,” “Echoes of the Polygon,” and “From the Pacific to the Steppes: Solidarity, Reconciliation, and Nuclear Justice.”
At the first TPNW meeting in Vienna on June 21-23, 2022, Kazakhstan proposed several initiatives, including creating an International Trust Fund for victim assistance and environmental restoration.
Key decisions of the second TPNW meeting in New York from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2023, included establishing a consultative process on security concerns and advancing plans for an International Trust Fund, initially proposed by Kazakhstan, to be addressed at the third meeting. Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu called for dialogue and expanded global confidence-building measures. Following the conference, Kazakhstan assumed the two-year presidency of the TPNW.
