PH Calls for Renewed Efforts at Nuclear Disarmament 

Maria Cleofe R. Natividad, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines to the UN and IAEA in Vienna, delivering the Philippine statement as head of the Philippine delegation during the General Debate on 24 April 2018. On her left is Minister Ariel R. Peñaranda of the Philippine Mission in New York.

GENEVA 03 May 2018 – The Philippines echoed urgent calls from the international community for renewed efforts on nuclear disarmament at a meeting in Geneva to prepare for the 2020 Review Conference for the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Speaking as the head of the Philippine Delegation, Ambassador Maria Cleofe R. Natividad, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, underlined that “the challenges confronting the global security environment should deepen, not shake, the resolve of NPT States Parties to implement obligations under the Treaty.”

The Philippines is among the delegations which have emphasized the need for the NPT states parties to achieve important outcomes across the NPT’s core issues -- nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy -- to “reinforce the Treaty’s role in the global security architecture.”

Ambassador Natividad affirmed the Philippines commitment to work with other delegations on “a substantive review and an ambitious forward-looking process,” adding that success in the NPT process “will establish without doubt the enduring value of multilateralism in pursuing disarmament and global security.”

She emphasized that the Philippines’ firm and principled commitment to the NPT and the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons is anchored in the Philippine Constitution. She also underscored that the Philippines was one of the first countries to sign the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons in New York in September last year, and that this treaty strengthens the NPT pillar on nuclear disarmament. 

Ambassador Natividad also stated that as State Party to the Treaty on the South East Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, the Philippines recognizes the reinforcing role that nuclear weapons free zones play in the global disarmament and non-proliferation framework.

Majority of delegations that spoke in the general debate expressed the similar view that the continued existence of nuclear weapons poses a grave threat to international peace and security and they must therefore be eliminated.

The 2nd Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2020 NPT Review Conference is being held in Geneva on 23 April to 4 May in Geneva and is part of the preparations for the 2020 Review Conference on the NPT, which will be held in New York in 2020, which incidentally is the 50th anniversary of the treaty. The NPT holds a review every five years to see if States Parties are meeting their obligations across its three pillars of nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. END

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/