Pax Christi International Representatives Advocate for Nuclear Disarmament at 2024 NPT PrepCom in Geneva
From July 22nd until July 25th at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Jonathan Frerichs (PCI International Representative), Giulia Bordin (PCI Advocacy Officer), and Naomi Zoka (Pax Christi Vlaanderen Security and Disarmament campaigner) actively participated in the first of two weeks of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Naomi Zoka addressed the state representatives gathered in Geneva by reading a statement from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) – a coalition of 650 civil society organizations, including Pax Christi International. The statement highlighted that “Over 2,000 nuclear tests, conducted primarily by the nuclear-armed states present in this room, have irrevocably impacted the lives of thousands of women, men, and children. In particular, girls exposed to nuclear weapons use and testing developed cancer at twice the rate of boys.”
Together with other ICAN members, they worked to persuade States Parties to:
- Emphasize the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons
- Highlight risks associated with any use of nuclear weapons
- Condemn actions that undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
- Support the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Members of PCI’s disarmament working group and Pax Christi-related bishops contacted their governments prior to the NPT meeting. They raised concerns about nuclear threats in crises in Ukraine, the Middle East and Northeast Asia and the massive up-grades nuclear-weapon states are making to their arsenals. They also cited the current witness for building peace without nuclear weapons of bishops from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Santa Fe and Seattle. PCI representatives at the NPT followed up with diplomats from countries contacted, including South Korea, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Unfortunately, the NPT Prepcom concluded without achieving consensus among all states parties. Instead, the chair’s summary was adopted as a working paper, marking another setback for the NPT process, following the failure of the 2015 and 2022 NPT Review Conferences to reach any agreements. This is further proof that urgent action is needed elsewhere to address nuclear disarmament and ensure global security.
Pax Christi International holds that a cessation of nuclear threats and the abolition of nuclear armaments must be prioritized without delay. Nuclear weapons not only pose a grave threat to humankind but also fundamentally undermine the core values of humanity and the pursuit of peace.
