Briefing by Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs during the 8733rd meeting of the Security Council.
UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told the Security Council that the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is “a pillar of international peace and security. Few multilateral treaties, let alone security treaties, can lay claim to the record of success that the NPT can.”
Briefing the Security Council today (26 Feb) on supporting the NPT ahead of the 2020 Review Conference, Nakamitsu said that for fifty years now, the NPT “has provided collective security benefits to all its States parties. It remains an enduring example of the value of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation measures as supporting pillars of international peace and security, no matter the climate of the day.”
The High Representative also said, “failure to secure a successful outcome in 2020 will not doom the Treaty or the non-proliferation regime,” however, she said, it will “serve to undermine the value so many UN Member States place on it and, in turn, devalue the review cycle as a way to not only strengthen the implementation of the NPT, but the regime as a whole.”
She reiterated, “it could further entrench the divides within the Treaty with long-term ramifications.”
