CND Chair lobbies NPT Conference Chairman & speaks to all delegates from the floor of the United Nations in New York

Although it largely escaped the notice of the media in the UK, a major United Nations Conference on nuclear disarmament stated in New York on Monday, to conclude Friday week. The Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is holding its first session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 8th to 19th April. The NPT is the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation regime. It was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to further the goal of nuclear disarmament. It entered-into-force in 1970 and currently has 187 States parties signed up to it.

Significantly, and unfortunately, three nuclear capable states - Israel, India and Pakistan - refuse to sign up. At the 2000 NPT Review Conference, all States parties agreed on a final document that included specific commitments to work towards non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. This included 13 'practical steps' which, if implemented, would result in a nuclear weapons-free world, sooner rather than later.

On Monday 8 April, CND Chair Carol Naughton lobbied Conference Chairman Henrik Salander of Sweden and has been busy handing out CND's report, 'The UK's Record on Nuclear Disarmament' (see 'Briefings & Reports' on the British CND website). On Wednesday 10 April , Carol has the honour of representing the international NGO community as she speaks to delegates from the conference floor about progress, or more accurately the lack of progress, in implementing the '13 practical steps' to nuclear disarmament.