SECOND UN CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ISSUES TO BE HELD IN NAGASAKI, 24 TO 27 NOVEMBER
Press Release
DC/2618
SECOND UN CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ISSUES TO BE HELD IN NAGASAKI, 24 TO 27 NOVEMBER
19981112 NEW YORK, 12 November (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- A United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues entitled "Towards a World Free from Nuclear Weapons" will be held in Nagasaki, Japan, from 24 to 27 November.The purpose of the Conference is to provide an informal setting for frank and open discussion of critical issues on nuclear disarmament. In the aftermath of the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan, the international community has faced acute and new challenges and has been looking for effective responses. At this critical juncture, the Nagasaki Conference will consider, among other issues, how to prevent further proliferation of nuclear weapons capability; how to improve and strengthen existing nuclear non-proliferation regimes; the multilateral approach towards nuclear disarmament and eventual abolition of nuclear weapons; immediate priorities to avoid accidental nuclear war and how to promote nuclear disarmament and practical steps to that end; and national and regional security today.
As the Conference site, Nagasaki can provide participants with a unique opportunity to look at the calamity of the use of nuclear weapons through the visit of the Nagasaki Memorial Museum and interaction with the "Hibakusha" (nuclear victims), and to ask themselves the meaning of nuclear weapons in today's context.
Hosted by the Nagasaki Prefecture and Nagasaki City, the Conference is organized by the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific. The entire cost of this Conference is being financed from voluntary contributions of the Government of Japan and Nagasaki Prefecture and Nagasaki City.
Approximately 70 participants from Governments, academic and research institutes, non-governmental organizations, elected representatives and the media, mainly from within the Asia-Pacific region, will attend in their personal capacity.
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