The seventh edition of the Summer School on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation for diplomats from Latin America and the Caribbean was held from June 28 to July 9, 2021, with 37 participants from 17 countries. This time it was held remotely.
This edition, which is being held for the seventh time, reiterates the close collaboration between the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), the Matías Romero Institute and the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies (CNS) – Middlebury Institute of International Studies, continuing with the objective of training diplomats from Latin America and the Caribbean on issues related to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
The course was inaugurated on this occasion by Dr. William C.Potter, Founder Director of CNS, Ambassador Flavio Roberto Bonzanini, Secretary General of OPANAL, Alejandro Alday, Director General of the Matías Romero Institute and Dr. Eduardo Jaramillo Navarrete, Director General for the United Nations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico (SRE).
Likewise, throughout the course, there were presentations by renowned academics from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation (VCDNP), the National Institute for Nuclear Research (ININ -Mexico), the National Nuclear Safety and Safeguards Commission (CNSNS – Mexico), the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Nonproliferation for Global Security Foundation (NPSGlobal), as well as professionals from the organizing institutions and members of civil society.
The participants of the VII edition of the Summer School on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation took the course through the educational platform of the Matías Romero Institute, through which they had access to materials and complementary readings to the presentations that were given during the two weeks, in order to continue expanding their knowledge on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.
In his opening remarks, the Secretary General, Ambassador Flavio Roberto Bonzanini, stressed to the participants that:
…the Treaty of Tlatelolco has served as a model for all future nuclear-weapon-free zone agreements, and it is our responsibility as a region, to continue to join efforts to promote nuclear disarmament worldwide… .
He also invited the participants to apply the knowledge acquired during the course in their work environments and future endeavors and to continue contributing to our region’s efforts for strengthening of the norm of prohibition and the early elimination of nuclear weapons.
This seventh edition of the Summer School on Disarmament and Non-proliferation ended on July 9 with a presentation by the students on the most severe threats and challenges to the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime, followed by a fruitful discussion among the participants.