[YOUR LOGO]
[NAME OF YOUR ORGANISATION]
[ADDRESS OF YOUR ORGANISATION]
[POST CODE AND CITY OF YOUR ORGANISATION]
[NAME OF NATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION]
[ADDRESS OF NATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION]
POST CODE AND CITY OF NATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION]
Wednesday 25 June 2014
Dear [NAME OF CONTACT PERSON],
We write in relation to resolution 3CO/E/5 “Building Workers Power”, adopted by the 3rd World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on 23 May 2014 in Berlin, which called for “urgent negotiations on a treaty banning the use, manufacture, stockpiling and possession of nuclear weapons as a first step towards their complete elimination”. As a partner of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a global civil society coalition of more than 360 organisations in 94 countries, we wish to express our deepest appreciation for this call.
The vast majority of the world’s states have already renounced the right to nuclear weapons through the establishment of regional Nuclear Weapon Free Zonesand by joining the Non-Proliferation Treaty as non-nuclear-weapon states. Still, nearly seventy years after their were first used, there are still more than 16,000 nuclear weapons in the world, each with the potential to unleash a humanitarian catastrophe of incomprehensible proportions.Furthermore, all the nine nuclear-armed states are currently undertaking costly modernisation programmes to upgrade their nuclear arsenals, and multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, are marked by an unacceptable and dangerous lack of progress, as epitomised by the 17 year deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
In recent years, a series of initiatives highlighting the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons have provided the international nuclear disarmament debate with a new momentum. In March 2013, the government of Norway organised the first international conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons in Oslo. The conference was attended by 128 states, and concluded that it is unlikely that any state or international body could address the immediate humanitarian consequences caused by a nuclear weapons detonation in an adequate manner and provide sufficient assistance to those affected.
In February 2014, 146 states participated in a follow-up conference in Nayarit, Mexico. Beyond the immediate death and destruction caused by a nuclear detonation, this second conference concluded that the reconstruction of infrastructure and regeneration of economic activities, trade, communications, health facilities, and schools would take several decades and cause profound political harm. On the basis of these discussions, the Mexican Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Juan Manuel Gomez-Robledo, concluded in his conference summary that it is time for “states and civil society to reach new international standards and norms, through a legally binding instrument”, while the Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz announced that Austria would host a third conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons on 8-9 December 2014 in Vienna.
In contrast with other weapons of mass destruction as well as certain conventional weapons with unacceptable humanitarian consequences, nuclear weapons have not yet been explicitly prohibited. ICAN believes that the series of initiatives highlighting the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons provides a unique opportunity to start of process of negotiations for a treaty banning nuclear weapons. Such an effort would not be a substitute for other efforts; it would build on them and provide a new tool for stigmatising nuclear weapons and promoting their elimination.
Whilst recognising that the upcoming Vienna Conference is framed as a continuation of the discussions, started in Oslo and Nayarit, we note the appetite among many states and international organisations for discussions about potential political and legal initiatives to address nuclear weapons, including calls to negotiated a ban treaty. We believe thatthe vision laid out in the Chair’s Summary at the Nayarit conference provides a unique opportunity to take tangible steps towards nuclear disarmament, and we strongly endorse the calls made by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and ITUC for a new legal instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons.
The contribution and support of trade unions from all global regions will be vital in our effort to achieve our shared objective. We would therefore be grateful for the opportunity to meet with you to have your thoughts on these developments and discuss potential points of collaboration in the run-up to and beyond the Vienna Conference.
Remaining at your disposal, we reiterate our congratulations, and send our warmest regards,
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME AND ORGANISATION]
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