TOWARDS A NUCLEAR WEAPON FREE WORLD:
THE NEED FOR A NEW AGENDA

U.N Resolution 53/77Y adopted 4 December, 1998

Introduced by Ireland, with Co-sponsors: Benin, Botswana, Brazil*, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt*, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ireland*, Lesotho, Liberia, Malaysia,
Mali, Mexico*, New Zealand-Aotearoa*, Nigeria, Peru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, South Africa*, Swaziland, Sweden*, Thailand, Togo, Uruguay, Venezuela

* members of the New Agenda Coalition [OP = operative paragraph]

The General Assembly,

Alarmed by the threat to the very survival of mankind posed by the existence of nuclear weapons,

Concerned at the prospect of the indefinite possession of nuclear weapons,

Concerned at the continued retention of the nuclear-weapons option by those three States that are nuclear-weapons capable and that have not acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT),

Believing that the proposition that nuclear weapons can be retained in perpetuity and never used accidentally or by decision - defies credibility, and that the only complete defence is the elimination of nuclear weapons and the assurance that they will never be produced again,

Concerned that the Nuclear-Weapon States have not fulfilled speedilly and totally their commitment to the elimination of their nuclear weapons,

Concerned also that those three States that are nuclear-weapons capable and that have not acceded to the NPT have failed to renounce their nuclear-weapons option,

Bearing in mind that the overwhelming majority of States entered into legally-binding commitments not to receive, manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and that these undertakings have been made in the context of the corresponding legally-binding commitments by the nuclear-weapons States to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, Recalling the unanimous conclusion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its 1996 Advisory Opinion that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control,

Stressing that the international community must not enter the third millennium with the prospect that the possession of nuclear weapons will be considered legitimate for the indefinite future and convinced that the present juncture provides a unique opportunity to proceed to prohibit and eradicate them for all time,

Recognizing that the total elimination of nuclear weapons will require measures to be taken firstly by those nuclear-weapon States that have the largest arsenals, and Stressing that these States must be joined in a seamless process by those nuclear-weapon States with lesser arsenals in the
near future,

Welcoming the achievements to date and the future promise of the START process and the possibility it offers for development as a plurilateral mechanism including all the nuclear-weapon States, for the practical dismantling and destruction of nuclear armaments undertaken in pursuit of the elimination of nuclear weapons,

Believing that there are a number of practical steps that the nuclear-weapon States can and should take immediately before the actual elimination of nuclear arsenals and the development of requisite verification regimes take place, and in this connection noting certain recent unilateral and other steps,

Welcoming the agreement recently reached in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on the establishment of an Ad hoc Committee under Item 1 of its agenda entitled "Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament", to negotiate, on the basis of the report of the Special Coordinator (CD/1299) and the mandate contained therein, a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and considering that such a treaty must further underpin the process towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons,

Emphasising that for the total elimination of nuclear weapons to be achieved, effective international cooperation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons is vital and must be enhanced through, inter alia, the extension of international controls over all fissile material for nuclear weapons or other n uclear explosive devices,

Emphasising the importance of existing Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone treaties and of the signature and ratification of the relevant protocols to these treaties,

Noting the Joint Ministerial Declaration of 9 June 1998 and its call for a new international agenda to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world, through the pursuit, in parallel, of a series of mutually reinforcing measures at the bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral levels,

OP1 Calls upon the Nuclear-Weapon States to demonstrate an unequivocal commitment to the speedy and total elimination of their respective\ nuclear weapons and without delay to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to the elimination of these weapons, thereby fulfilling their obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);

OP2 Calls upon the United States and the Russian Federation to bring START II into force without further delay and immediately thereafter to proceed with negotiations on START III with a view to its early conclusion;

OP3 Calls upon the Nuclear-Weapon States to undertake the necessary steps towards the seamless integration of all five Nuclear-Weapon States into the process leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons;

OP4 Calls upon the Nuclear-Weapon States to pursue vigorously the reduction of reliance on nonategic nuclear weapons and negotiations on their elimination as an integral part of their overall nuclear disarmament activities;

OP5 Calls upon the Nuclear-Weapon States, as an interim measure, to proceed to the de-alerting of their nuclear weapons and in turn to the removal of nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles;

OP6 Urges the Nuclear-Weapon States to examine further interim measures, including measures to enhance strategic stability and accordingly to review strategic doctrines;

OP7 Calls upon those three States that are nuclear weapons-capable and that have not yet acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to clearly and urgently reverse the pursuit of all nuclear weapons development or deployment and to refrain from any actions which could undermine regional and international peace and security and the efforts of the international community towards nuclear disarmament and the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation;

OP8 Calls upon those States that have not yet done so to adhere unconditionally and without delay to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and to take all the necessary measures which flow from adherence to this instrument;

OP9 Calls upon those States that have not yet done so to conclude full-scope safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to conclude additional protocols to their safeguards agreements on the basis of the Model Protocol approved by the IAEA Board of Governors on 15 May 1997;

OP10 Calls upon those States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify, unconditionally and without delay, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and, pending the Treaty's entry into force, to observe a moratorium on nuclear tests;

OP11 Calls upon those States that have not yet done so to adhere to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and to work towards its further strengthening;

OP12 Calls upon the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to pursue its negotiations in the Ad hoc Committee established under Item 1 of its agenda entitled "Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament", on the basis of the report of the Special Coordinator (CD/1299) and the mandate contained therein, of a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, taking into consideration both nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament objectives, and to conclude these negotiations without delay; and pending the entry into force of the treaty, Urges all States to observe a moratorium on the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;

OP13 Calls upon the Conference on Disarmament to establish an appropriate subsidiary body to deal with nuclear disarmament and, to that end, to pursue as a matter of priority its intensive consultations on appropriate methods and approaches with a view to reaching such a decision without delay;

OP14 Considers that an international conference on nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, which would effectively complement efforts being undertaken in other settings, could facilitate the consolidation of a new agenda for a nuclear-weapon-free- world.

OP15 Recalls the importance of the Decisions and Resolution adopted at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, and Underlines the importance of implementing fully the "Strengthening the Review Process for the Treaty" Decision;

OP16 Affirms that the development of verification arrangements will be necessary for the maintenance of a world free from nuclear weapons and requests the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), together with any other relevant international organisations and bodies, to explore the elements of such a system;

OP17 Calls for the conclusion of an internationally legally-binding instrument to effectively assure non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons;

OP18 Stresses that the pursuit, extension and establishment of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones, on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at, especially in regions of tension, such as the Middle East and South Asia, represent a significant contribution to the goal of a nuclear- weapon-free world;

OP19 Affirms that a nuclear-weapon-free world will ultimately require the underpinnings of a universal and multilaterally negotiated legally binding instrument or a framework encompassing a mutually reinforcing set of instruments;

OP 20 Requests the Secretary General, within existing resources, to compile a report on the implementation of this resolution;

OP21 Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-fourth session the item entitled "Towards a Nuclear Weapons Free-World: The Need for a New Agenda", and to review the implementation of this resolution.

VOTE ON RESOLUTION 53/77 Y, "Nuclear Disarmament: The Need for a New Agenda" in the UN General Assembly on 4 December, 1998

YES: 114
NO: 18
ABSTAIN: 38

YES: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua-Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Dar-Salam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Afr Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominican Rep, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equat. Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Dem Rep, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent-Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Trinadad-Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Unit. Rep of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

NO: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Fed, Slovakia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

ABSTENTIONS: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bhutan, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Rep. of Korea, Rep. of Moldova, Slovenia, Spain, Former Yug Rep Macedonia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

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