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Samoa delivers national statement during the Nuclear Weapons Thematic Discussion - First Committee

Date: 
Friday, 13 October 2017

Mr. Dominic Sofe, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Samoa to the United Nations delivered Samoa’s statement during the thematic discussion on Nuclear Weapons in the UN Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee).

The statement highlighted the need for a world without nuclear weapons as the only effective and genuine means to achieve global peace and stability. It reaffirmed the Pacific region’s shared point-of reference towards nuclear disarmament based on real life experience, which led to the creation of the South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zone as articulated in the Rarotonga Treaty of 1986.   Samoa acknowledged other nuclear weapons free zones around the world and supported the need to work in cooperation with them and other stakeholders in the fight against nuclear weapons. The reality of today’s geopolitics has reaffirmed Samoa’s belief that the mere existence of such weapons does not guarantee a peaceful world.   Importantly, it underscored why Samoa signed the Nuclear Prohibition Treaty on the 20th September during the high level week of the General Assembly as the BAN treaty would help to strengthen already existing disarmament regimes.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) achievement in receiving the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for their determination and perseverance in the fight against nuclear weapons earned  them Samoa’s congratulations for a well deserved honour and encouraged them to continue the advocacy.