Strengthening the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Agenda within the NPT

• Published in: Policy File 2024
• Main Authors: Zhang, Vivienne, Batani, Elena, McClafferty, Mhairi, Scherer, Emma, Steins, Christian, Cho, Lauren, Syed Ali Zia Jaffery, Zhurina, Natalia, Ian Fleming Zhou, Knight, Mackenzie, Starn, Callie, Bell, Orlando, Devereaux-Heddon, Ruairí, Kuramitsu, Shizuka, Selma Mustafić’, Rizvi, Mubashar, Saunders, Emma, Stevenson-Yang, Lucy, Stefanovic, Andrej, Vieluf, Maren, Chase Harward, Ang, Noel, Kulibaba, Nadezhda, Pirnavskaia, Kseniia, Rabino, Adelaide, Rekhi, Vedika, Liz Gabriela Gonzolez Hoyos, Nakamura, Iku, Syeda Saba Batool, Kulkarni, Rohit, Karner, Natasha, Desai, Hely, Williams, Liuba Pauline, Marku, Megi, Karn, Ariel, Ali, Alkis, Samudra, Hree Putri, Shahrilnizam, Elisa Shafiqah, Rakhmatulla, Yerdaulet, Barakat, Christelle, Haile, Mahlet Sebsibe, Bruseghello, Ilenia
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arms control & disarmament; Humanitarianism; International cooperation; Military strategy; Nuclear weapons

In October 2023, BASIC’s Emerging Voices Network (EVN) launched a Policy Cycle focused on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons (HINW). With generous support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, this EVN Policy Cycle explores the HINW agenda in the context of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and efforts to strengthen it. With this in mind, five EVN Working Groups, each led by two Co-Chairs, researched and drafted policy papers including a set of policy recommendations for the international community to consider and take forward. Their areas of focus span across the NPT community’s key stakeholders and the treaty’s three pillars (non-proliferation, peaceful uses, and disarmament), in order to build a holistic approach to reducing nuclear harms within this space. The Working Groups focused on 5 key areas, in the context of strengthening the HINW agenda within the NPT: Engaging the P5; The Role of Civil Society; Nuclear Education and Knowledge; Nuclear Safety and Security; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The resulting anthology provides valuable insights and innovative solutions from emerging researchers and young professionals in the nuclear policy field, and emphasises the importance of engaging with the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons within the mainstream international nuclear policy space. The community should also recognise the salience of these issues for the incoming generation of nuclear experts and consider their recommendations as part of a broader effort to make this field more accessible, representative, and inclusive of emerging and minoritised voices.