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IPU reiterates calls to eliminate nuclear weapons

Hiroshima Peace Memorial,

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. © Cory Denton (Dyroc)

On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (6 and 9 August), the IPU renews its calls for parliamentary action to ban the 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. In a letter co-signed with the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the IPU encourages all its Members to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

The TPNW is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the aim of achieving their total elimination. Currently, 43 States have ratified the TPNW ; in order to come into force, it requires signature and ratification by at least 50 States.

In 2014, the IPU adopted a landmark resolution on parliaments’ role in achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world which urged parliaments to work with their governments to promote a nuclear-weapon-free world and use all available tools to monitor the implementation of disarmament commitments.