Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

The Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) participates at the X Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, held at the United Nations headqueters in New York, August 1-26, 2022

The Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), Ambassador Flávio Roberto Bonzanini, participated in the General Debate of the X Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which is presided by Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen (Argentina) and which takes place from August 1 to 26, 2022 at the United Nations headquarters in New York..

In his statement, the Secretary-General called on all the States belonging to the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZ) to agree on the dates for convening the IV NWFZ Conference and that if it is not held, prior to the start of the work of the NPT, it must not set a precedent.

In addition, Ambassador Bonzanini highlighted that: 

• OPANAL “[…] presented a memorandum [NPT/CONF.202/2/Add.1] on [its] activities […] that also included information regarding compliance with the Treaty of Tlatelolco by its Member States, a description of the Agency’s relations with other Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones, other intergovernmental organizations and NGO’s and the activities carried out by the Agency regarding Gender and Education for disarmament and non-proliferation.”
• “The Treaty of Tlatelolco, the NPT through its three pillars and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty establish norms of International Law and are a suitable legal basis for the process aimed at complete eliminating all nuclear weapons in a transparent, verifiable and irreversible manner forever. The TPNW, in particular, complements the prohibition norm established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco and represents an effective measure to implement article VI of the NPT. It is not casual that the Member States of OPANAL played a crucial role in the negotiation, adoption, and entry into force of the Treaty. In line with their historic commitment to nuclear disarmament, more than 70% of the OPANAL Member States have signed and ratified the Treaty, and more recently the TPNW achieved its universalization in the Central American region.”
• “OPANAL is convinced that disarmament and non-proliferation education is an effective means to contribute to the consolidation of international peace and security.”
• “[…] equal, full and effective participation of all people is essential for the promotion and maintaining of peace and security. For this reason, and the ongoing need to continue recognizing and fostering the role of women in disarmament and nonproliferation, OPANAL formalized this obligation through a resolution adopted by consensus by the 33 Member States. We hope this Review Conference includes gender considerations during its work and considers the imperative need to ensure gender equality and the full empowerment of women in the process and all decision-making levels around nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”
• “The States Parties to the Treaty of Tlatelolco, true to their nuclear disarmament tradition, submitted a working paper [NPT/CONF.2020/WP.7] with punctual recommendations for consideration, convinced that all efforts must be exhausted to achieve the success of this tenth Review Conference. Therefore Latin American and Caribbean States urge the Conference to include these elements in a Final Document”