SIPRI, together with the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament at Uppsala University and the Swedish Government, hosted a side event, ‘Nuclear Disarmament at a Crossroads?’, at the 10th review conference (RevCon) of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York.
The event, held on 8 August, featured introductory remarks by Ann-Sofie Nilsson, Ambassador for Disarmament and Non-proliferation at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and reflections by Azril Abd Aziz, Deputy Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations. SIPRI was represented by Deputy Director Joakim Vaverka, who provided welcoming remarks, and Dr Wilfred Wan, Director of the SIPRI Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, who moderated the panel discussion.
The panel discussion examined how divergent perspectives and narratives about the role of nuclear weapons are currently shaping policy options. It focused on the means of moving forward, including how to revitalize nuclear disarmament—for example, through policymaking, public awareness and education. The discussion featured perspectives from policymakers and civil society.
SIPRI actively engaged in several other side events of the 10th NPT RevCon. On 2 August Dr Tytti Erästö, Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, was a panellist for the side event ‘From Deterrence to Disarmament: Challenges and Means for Change’, during which she presented the report ‘Revisiting “Minimal Nuclear Deterrence”: Laying the Ground for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament’. This side event was hosted by Hiroshima Prefecture and the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe).
On 3 August, Wan was among the panellists for the side event ‘Strategic Risk Reduction within the NPT’, organized by the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS).
Read more about the 10th NPT RevCon side events here.