Nuclear weapons are prohibited!

Almost a quarter century after they were invented and used by the US in Japan with devastating impact, 122 countries have adopted a treaty banning nuclear weapons. An elderly survivor, or hibakusha, of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Setsuko Thurlow, was among the first to welcome the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear […]

Negotiating the nuclear weapons ban in 2017

On 27 October 2016 at the United Nations General Assembly, 123 countries made history when they voted in favor of a First Committee on Disarmament resolution agreeing to negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons next year.

The resolution on “taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament” through negotiations in 2017 is the […]

Humanitarian disarmament in 2016

The host and conveners of the 2016 Humanitarian Disarmament Forum

Five years on, the umbrella term “humanitarian disarmament” is still the appropriate title for the small community of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society groups working to protect civilians and humanity from the harmful effects of indiscriminate weapons and armed violence. This was […]

Outrage at Syria’s incendiary weapons use

Since 2010, Human Rights Watch has been calling on governments to review the 30-year-old international protocol on incendiary weapons to better protect civilians, but its message sharpened considerably ahead of the annual meetings of the Convention on Conventional Weapons held at the United Nations in Geneva on 14-15 November 2013. “Where’s the outcry?” the […]

The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons

On 4-5 March 2013, a highly-anticipated conference to consider the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons was convened by Norway in Oslo. This write-up covers some of the highlights from this latest humanitarian disarmament initiative, which seeks to reframe the debate on nuclear weapons in humanitarian terms and initiate swift action by like-minded states in […]