Secretary-General Applauds International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons on Winning Nobel Peace Prize, Hailing Determined Efforts of Civil Society

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General congratulates the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons on being awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.  Events over the past months have reminded us of the catastrophic risk that nuclear weapons pose to humanity.  This Prize recognizes the determined efforts of civil society to highlight the unconscionable humanitarian and environmental consequences that would result if they were ever used again.

In July, these efforts contributed to the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally binding instrument for nuclear disarmament in decades.

Nuclear disarmament has been an objective for the United Nations since the very first General Assembly resolution in 1946, which established the goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction.  At a time when nuclear anxieties are at the highest level since the cold war, the Secretary-General calls on all countries to show vision and greater commitment for a world free of nuclear weapons.  The Secretary-General stresses the urgency to do all we can to end the threat of a nuclear nightmare.