Victim Assistance, Environmental Remediation and International Cooperation

Intersessional Progress on the TPNW

Article 4

» Articles 6 and 7

Article 12

Scientific Advisory Group

Gender and Nuclear Weapons

Complementarity

The First Meeting of States Parties established an informal working group on victim assistance, environmental remediation, international cooperation and assistance (Articles 6 and 7 of the TPNW). Article 6 of the TPNW requires states parties to provide victim assistance and environmental remediation to individuals and areas under their jurisdiction or control affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons. Article 7 requires all states parties in a position to do so to provide assistance to affected states parties and to victims themselves, as well as obligating all states parties to cooperate to facilitate the treaty’s implementation. The Vienna Action Plan includes ten actions, Actions 19-29, dedicated to the implementation of Articles 6 and 7, including to discuss the feasibility of and propose guidelines for an international trust fund for affected states, to consider developing a voluntary reporting format and for affected states parties to provide initial assessments of the effects of nuclear weapons use and testing and to develop national plans for the implementation of these articles.

At 2MSP, the co-chairs, Kazakhstan and Kiribati, presented the report of the informal working group on victim assistance, environmental remediation, international cooperation and assistance. The mandate of the working group and its co-chairs was renewed (Decision 1) for the next intersessional period.

States parties also adopted guidelines and a format for states parties to voluntarily report on their work on Article 6&7, and agreed to continue discussions on an international trust fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation, with the aim to submit a report to the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) with recommendations for such a fund, and to aim to examine the fund’s establishment at the 3MSP “as a priority.”