The final document of the NPT Review Conference was prevented from being adopted by Israel—a non-state party. The US, UK, and Canada issued statements refusing to accept the proposal on convening a meeting about potentially developing a Middle East weapon of mass destruction free zone, thus preventing the adoption of what would have been the weakest disarmament outcome in the Treaty’s recent history. Instead, the outcome from this Conference is the Humanitarian Pledge, representing a commitment of more than 100 states to work for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.

The process to develop the draft Review Conference outcome document was anti-democratic and nontransparent. Several delegations, including ASEAN, expressed their sense of frustration with and exclusion from the process. The result was a text overwhelmingly reflecting the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies. It contained no meaningful progress on nuclear disarmament and even rolled back some previous commitments. South Africa lambasted the NPT for denigrating into rule of the minority, where the few have control even when it doesn't make sense.

It is perhaps ironic, then, that three of these states prevented its adoption in the end, on behalf of a country that is not even party to the Treaty. The Review Conference President’s claim that the NPT belongs to all its states parties has never rung more hollow. The text resulting from this unacceptable process did not reflect the concerns, interests, or security of the majority of states parties or their publics. As a large, cross-regional group of 47 states argued in a statement delivered by Austria, the discussions during the Conference and resulting text demonstrated the “urgency to act upon the unacceptable humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons,” but then fell “dramatically short of making credible progress on filling the legal gap.”

107 states— the majority of the world's countries (and of NPT states parties)—have highlighted this legal gap and have committed to fill it, by endorsing the Humanitarian Pledge issued by Austria. These states have collectively demonstrated their empowerment by demanding that their security concerns be considered equal to those of the nuclear-armed states.

Now these states—and those that endorse the pledge after this Conference—must now use the pledge as the basis for a new process to develop a legally-binding instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons. This process should begin without delay. The 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has already been identified as the appropriate milestone for this process to commence.

A treaty banning nuclear weapons remains the most feasible course of action for states committed to disarmament. This Review Conference has demonstrated beyond any doubt that continuing to rely on the nuclear-armed states or their nuclear-dependent allies for leadership or action is futile. As the 47 states represented in the Austrian statement highlighted, “The exchanges of views that we have witnessed during this review cycle demonstrate that there is a wide divide that presents itself in many fundamental aspects of what nuclear disarmament should mean. There is a reality gap, a credibility gap, a confidence gap and a moral gap.”

These gaps can be filled by determined action to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons. “History honours only the brave,” declared Costa Rica. “Now is the time to work for what is to come, the world we want and deserve.” Those who reject nuclear weapons must have the courage of their convictions to move ahead without the nuclear-armed states, to take back ground from the violent few who purport to run the world, and build a new reality of human security and global justice.

The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will meet 27 April–22 May 2015 in New York. The President-designate of the Review Conference is Ambassador Taous Feroukhi from Algeria.

• 2015 NPT Briefing Book
  
• NPT News in Review - subscribe today
• Information for civil society participation
• Programme of work (Main Committees I, II and III)
• Calendar of events
• Statements
• Working papers and other documents
• National reports
• Official website

Conference documents

• Report of Main Committee I: Chairman's Draft on Substantive Elements (8 May 2015)
• Subsidiary Body 1: Draft substantive elements (8 May 2015)
• Subsidiary Body 1: Revised draft substantive elements (12 May 2015)
• Main Committee I: Draft Chairman's Report (14 May 2015)
• Main Committee I: Revised draft Chairman's report (15 May 2015)
• Main Committee I: Draft report (18 May 2015)
• Main Committee I: Draft President's text (21 May 2015)
  
  
• Report of Main Committee II (8 May 2015)
• Main Committee II: Draft Chairman's report (14 May 2015)
• Subsidiary Body I: Draft Chairman`s report (15 May 2015)
• Working paper of the Chair of Main Committee II (18 May 2015)
• Working paper of the Chair of Subsidiary Body 2 (20 May 2015)

• Report of Main Committee III (8 May 2015)
• Report of Main Committee III (12 May 2015)
• Report of Main Committee III (14 May 2015)
• Report of Main Committee III (18 May 2015)
• Draft report of Main Committee III (15 May 2015)
• NAM's Comments on Revised Draft Chairman's working paper: Main Committee III (15 May 2015) 
• Working paper of the Chair Subsidiary Body 3 (15 May 2015)
• Working paper of the Chair of Main Committee III (18 May 2015)

• Draft Final Document, Volume I, Part II: Organization and work of the Conference (21 May 2015)
• Draft Final Document, Volume I, Part I (22 May 2015)

To reserve Conference Room C (if you are an NGO) or to have your event added to the calendar, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Calendar last updated 20 May 2015

Friday, 24 April

Saturday, 25 April

Sunday, 26 April

Monday, 27 April

 Tuesday, 28 April

 Wednesday, 29 April

 Thursday, 30 April

 Friday, 1 May

Saturday, 2 May

Monday, 4 May

 Tuesday, 5 May

 Wednesday, 6 May

 Thursday, 7 May

Friday, 8 May

Monday, 11 May

Tuesday, 12 May

Wednesday, 13 May

Thursday, 14 May

Friday, 15 May

Monday, 18 May

Tuesday, 19 May

Wednesday, 20 May

Thursday, 21 May

Friday, 22 May

In advance of the 2015 NPT Review Conference, Reaching Critical Will has produced a briefing book that highlights a few critical issues that states must take into consideration during the Conference and beyond.

Editorial: A win for resolve and courage at First Committee
Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

Editorial: Who’s afraid of an open-ended working group?
Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF and Thomas Nash | Article 36

Editorial: Humanitarian incantations
Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

Editorial: Full-spectrum change
Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

Editorial: Making change
Ray Acheson | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The Second Open-ended Meeting of Governmental Experts of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons and All Its Aspects (MGE2) met in New York from 1-5 June 2015.

Reaching Critical Will resources

• Small Arms Monitor (subscribe here)

MGE2 documents

• Statements
• Documents
• Side events calendar

Background information

• 2014 Biennial Meeting of States (BMS5)
• 2012 Review Conference
• 2012 Preparatory Committee for the Review Conference
• 2011 Meeting of Governmental Experts (MGE)
• 2010 Biennial Meeting of States (BMS4)
• 2008 Biennial Meeting of States (BMS3)
• Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons
• International Tracing Instrument

Other resources

• UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
• International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)
• Aide memoire for civil society organizations