SHARE
PAPER
UN General Assembly First Committee Briefing Paper
The 2024 First Committee on Disarmament and International Security of the UN General Assembly will take place from 7 October - 8 November in New York. The general debate is scheduled to take place from 7-16 October while thematic debate should take place from 18-29 October. States will vote on all draft resolutions from 1 -8 November. For regular updates, subscribe to Reaching Critical Will’s First Committee Monitor.
As of early 2024, nine countries (China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) possessed more than 12,000 nuclear weapons. Each is currently investing in the modernisation of its nuclear weapons. In 2023, the nuclear-armed states spent an estimated 91.4 billion USD on these weapons. Six additional states—Belarus, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey—host foreign nuclear weapons on their territories. Twenty-eight other countries allow the use of nuclear weapons on their behalf as part of military alliances and other agreements.
Any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences. With rising global tensions and technological developments, the risk of nuclear weapon use and nuclear war is increasing. No state or agency could address the immediate or long-term consequences of the detonation of a nuclear weapon. The body of research on the humanitarian and environmental impacts of nuclear weapons continues to grow.
In the face of these threats, many members of the international community are actively engaging to promote disarmament and international security and have chosen not to develop nuclear weapons. Membership of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) continues to grow, and as of 25 September 2024, stands at 73 states parties, and a further 25 signatories. States parties to the TPNW met frequently throughout 2024 to engage in intersessional work to advance treaty implementation since the adoption of the landmark 50-point Action Plan and Declaration at the TPNW first Meeting of States Parties in 2022, and the series of decisions and the declaration at the second Meeting of States Parties in November- December 2023. States will meet for the third Meeting of States Parties in March 2025.
Read ICAN recommendations for UN member states and download the briefing paper in English and French below.