Riviera Nayarit to Host Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons Conference ICAN
go to original November 18, 2013

Over the last year, the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons has become a dominant theme and a driving force in the international nuclear weapons debate. It started with the successful Oslo conference in March. We saw it again at the Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in April and during the High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament in September. And after the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly last month, where 125 states supported a joint statement on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, we should be in no doubt: Together we have put humanitarian considerations front and centre in the international nuclear weapons debate and thereby prepared the ground for a new treaty to outlaw and eliminate these weapons.

To continue the discussion started in Oslo, Mexico will host a second conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons in Nayarit, on 13-14 February 2014. This conference gives ICAN a key opportunity to establish, once and for all, that it is impossible to mitigate the effects of nuclear weapons, and that the only logical way forward is to start a process of negotiations for a nuclear ban treaty.

Civil society has been invited to participate in the Nayarit conference alongside states, UN agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and academic experts. ICAN is working closely with the Mexican government to ensure effective, significant and inclusive participation by civil society.

All representatives of civil society organisations interested in participating in the conference are invited to complete and submit an application through the ICAN website no later than 6 December 2013. ICAN will confirm participation by 16 December 2013 at the latest. Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee participation in the conference. You are therefore advised to wait for ICAN’s confirmation before finalising travel arrangements.

In addition, ICAN has undertaken a sponsorship programme to support the participation of applicants from civil society in developing countries as defined by the OECD DAC list. In order to request sponsorship to attend the conference, you must complete the sponsorship section in the application form. ICAN will register all confirmed civil society participants with the Mexican government. Civil society representatives do not need to register on the official website.

Click here to submit your application to participate in the Nayarit conference.

For any general enquiry or issue with the application form, please contact mexico2014@icanw.org.

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