United Nations A/RES/68/47

Distr.: General
General Assembly 10 December 2013

Sixty-eighth session
Agenda item 99 (aa)

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 5 December 2013

[on the report of the First Committee (A/68/411)]

68/47. Nuclear disarmament

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 49/75 E of 15 December 1994 on a step-by-step
reduction of the nuclear threat, and its resolutions 50/70 P of 12 December 1995,
51/45 O of 10 December 1996, 52/38 L of 9 December 1997, 53/77 X of 4 December
1998, 54/54 P of 1 December 1999, 55/33 T of 20 November 2000, 56/24 R of
29 November 2001, 57/79 of 22 November 2002, 58/56 of 8 December 2003, 59/77
of 3 December 2004, 60/70 of 8 December 2005, 61/78 of 6 December 2006, 62/42
of 5 December 2007, 63/46 of 2 December 2008, 64/53 of 2 December 2009, 65/56
of 8 December 2010, 66/51 of 2 December 2011 and 67/60 of 3 December 2012 on
nuclear disarmament,
Reaffirming the commitment of the international community to the goal of the
total elimination of nuclear weapons and the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free
world,
Bearing in mind that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and
on Their Destruction of 1972 1 and the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their
Destruction of 1993 2 have already established legal regimes on the complete
prohibition of biological and chemical weapons, respectively, and determined to
achieve a nuclear weapons convention on the prohibition of the development,
testing, production, stockpiling, loan, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear
weapons and on their destruction, and to conclude such an international convention
at an early date,
Recognizing that there now exist conditions for the establishment of a world
free of nuclear weapons, and stressing the need to take concrete practical steps
towards achieving this goal,

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1
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1015, No. 14860.
2
Ibid., vol. 1974, No. 33757.
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A/RES/68/47 Nuclear disarmament

Bearing in mind paragraph 50 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special

Session of the General Assembly, the first special session devoted to disarmament,3
calling for the urgent negotiation of agreements for the cessation of the qualitative
improvement and development of nuclear-weapon systems and for a comprehensive
and phased programme with agreed time frames, wherever feasible, for the
progressive and balanced reduction of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery,
leading to their ultimate and complete elimination at the earliest possible time,
Reaffirming the conviction of the States parties to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 4 that the Treaty is a cornerstone of nuclear
non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, and the importance of the decision on
strengthening the review process for the Treaty, the decision on principles and
objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the decision on the
extension of the Treaty and the resolution on the Middle East, adopted by the 1995
Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 5
Stressing the importance of the 13 steps for the systematic and progressive
efforts to achieve the objective of nuclear disarmament leading to the total
elimination of nuclear weapons, as agreed to by the States parties in the Final
Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 6
Recognizing the important work done at the 2010 Review Conference of the
Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 7 and affirming
its action plan as an impetus to intensify work aimed at beginning negotiations for a
nuclear weapons convention,
Reiterating the highest priority accorded to nuclear disarmament in the Final
Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly and by the
international community,
Reiterating its call for an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-
Test-Ban Treaty, 8
Noting the entry into force of the new strategic arms reduction treaty between
the Russian Federation and the United States of America, in order to achieve further
deep cuts in their strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, and stressing that such cuts
should be irreversible, verifiable and transparent,
Recalling the entry into force of the Treaty between the United States of America
and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (the Moscow Treaty)9 as
a significant step towards reducing their deployed strategic nuclear weapons, while
calling for further irreversible deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals,

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3
Resolution S-10/2.
4
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No. 10485.
5
See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, Part I (NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I) and Corr.2), annex.
6
2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final
Document, vol. I (NPT/CONF.2000/28 (Parts I and II)), part I, section entitled “Article VI and eighth to
twelfth preambular paragraphs”, para. 15.
7
2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final
Document, vols. I–III (NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vols. I–III)).
8
See resolution 50/245 and A/50/1027.
9
See CD/1674.

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Noting the positive statements by nuclear-weapon States of their intention to

pursue actions in achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, while reaffirming the
need for urgent concrete actions by nuclear-weapon States to achieve this goal
within a specified framework of time, and urging them to take further measures for
progress on nuclear disarmament,
Recognizing the complementarity of bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral
negotiations on nuclear disarmament, and that bilateral negotiations can never
replace multilateral negotiations in this respect,
Noting the support expressed in the Conference on Disarmament and in the
General Assembly for the elaboration of an international convention to assure
non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, and
the multilateral efforts in the Conference on Disarmament to reach agreement on
such an international convention at an early date,
Recalling the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the
legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, issued on 8 July 1996, 10 and
welcoming the unanimous reaffirmation by all Judges of the Court that there exists
an obligation for all States to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion
negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and
effective international control,
Mindful of paragraph 102 of the Final Document of the Ministerial Meeting of
the Coordinating Bureau of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held in
Havana from 27 to 30 April 2009, 11
Recalling paragraph 157 and other relevant recommendations in the Final
Document of the Sixteenth Conference of Heads of State or Government of
Non-Aligned Countries, held in Tehran from 26 to 31 August 2012, 12 in which the
Conference on Disarmament was called upon to establish, as soon as possible and as
the highest priority, an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament and to commence
negotiations on a phased programme for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons
within a specified framework of time, including a nuclear weapons convention,
Noting the adoption of the programme of work for the 2009 session by the
Conference on Disarmament on 29 May 2009, 13 after years of stalemate, while
regretting that the Conference has not been able to undertake substantive work on its
agenda in 2013,
Welcoming the establishment of the informal working group with a mandate to
produce a programme of work robust in substance and progressive over time in
implementation by the Conference on Disarmament on 16 August 2013,
Reaffirming the importance and validity of the Conference on Disarmament as
the sole multilateral negotiating forum on disarmament, and expressing the need to
adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive programme of work on the basis
of its agenda and dealing with, inter alia, four core issues, in accordance with the rules
of procedure,14 and by taking into consideration the security concerns of all States,

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10
A/51/218, annex.
11
See A/63/858.
12
A/67/506-S/2012/752, annex I.
13
See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 27 (A/64/27),
para. 18.
14
CD/8/Rev.9.

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Reaffirming also the specific mandate conferred upon the Disarmament

Commission by the General Assembly, in its decision 52/492 of 8 September 1998,
to discuss the subject of nuclear disarmament as one of its main substantive agenda
items,
Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 15 in which Heads of
State and Government resolved to strive for the elimination of weapons of mass
destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, and to keep all options open for
achieving this aim, including the possibility of convening an international
conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers,
Recalling also the statement on the total elimination of nuclear weapons
adopted by the Sixteenth Ministerial Conference and Commemorative Meeting of the
Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, from 23 to
27 May 2011, 16 and recalled by the Heads of State and Government of Non-Aligned
Countries at their Sixteenth Conference, in which the Movement reiterated its call
for an international conference to identify ways and means of eliminating nuclear
weapons at the earliest possible date,
Welcoming the successful convening of the high-level meeting of the General
Assembly on nuclear disarmament on 26 September 2013, at which it was proposed
that 26 September be designated the International Day for the Total Elimination of
Nuclear Weapons,
Reaffirming that, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, States
should refrain from the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in settling their
disputes in international relations,
Seized of the danger of the use of weapons of mass destruction, particularly
nuclear weapons, in terrorist acts and the urgent need for concerted international
efforts to control and overcome it,
1. Recognizes that the time is now opportune for all the nuclear-weapon
States to take effective disarmament measures to achieve the total elimination of
these weapons at the earliest possible time;
2. Reaffirms that nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation are
substantively interrelated and mutually reinforcing, that the two processes must go
hand in hand and that there is a genuine need for a systematic and progressive
process of nuclear disarmament;
3. Welcomes and encourages the efforts to establish new nuclear-weapon-
free zones in different parts of the world, including the establishment of a Middle
East zone free of nuclear weapons, on the basis of agreements or arrangements
freely arrived at among the States of the regions concerned, which is an effective
measure for limiting the further spread of nuclear weapons geographically and
contributes to the cause of nuclear disarmament;
4. Welcomes the ongoing efforts between the States members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the nuclear-weapon States, and
encourages the nuclear-weapon States in their early signing of the Protocol to the
Treaty on the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone;

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15
Resolution 55/2.
16
A/65/896-S/2011/407, annex V.

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5. Recognizes that there is a genuine need to diminish the role of nuclear

weapons in strategic doctrines and security policies to minimize the risk that these
weapons will ever be used and to facilitate the process of their total elimination;
6. Urges the nuclear-weapon States to stop immediately the qualitative
improvement, development, production and stockpiling of nuclear warheads and
their delivery systems;
7. Also urges the nuclear-weapon States, as an interim measure, to de-alert
and deactivate immediately their nuclear weapons and to take other concrete
measures to reduce further the operational status of their nuclear-weapon systems,
while stressing that reductions in deployments and in operational status cannot
substitute for irreversible cuts in and the total elimination of nuclear weapons;
8. Reiterates its call upon the nuclear-weapon States to undertake the step-
by-step reduction of the nuclear threat and to carry out effective nuclear
disarmament measures with a view to achieving the total elimination of these
weapons within a specified framework of time;
9. Calls upon the nuclear-weapon States, pending the achievement of the
total elimination of nuclear weapons, to agree on an internationally and legally
binding instrument on a joint undertaking not to be the first to use nuclear weapons,
and calls upon all States to conclude an internationally and legally binding
instrument on security assurances of non-use and non-threat of use of nuclear
weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States;
10. Urges the nuclear-weapon States to commence plurilateral negotiations
among themselves at an appropriate stage on further deep reductions of nuclear
weapons as an effective measure of nuclear disarmament;
11. Underlines the importance of applying the principles of transparency,
irreversibility and verifiability to the process of nuclear disarmament and to nuclear
and other related arms control and reduction measures;
12. Also underlines the importance of the unequivocal undertaking by the
nuclear-weapon States, in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of
the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to
accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear
disarmament, to which all States parties are committed under article VI of the
Treaty, 6 and the reaffirmation by the States parties that the total elimination of
nuclear weapons is the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of
nuclear weapons; 17
13. Calls for the full and effective implementation of the 13 practical steps
for nuclear disarmament contained in the Final Document of the 2000 Review
Conference;
14. Also calls for the full implementation of the action plan as set out in the
conclusions and recommendations for follow-on actions of the Final Document of
the 2010 Review Conference, particularly the 22-point action plan on nuclear
disarmament; 7

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17
2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,
Final Document, vol. I (NPT/CONF.2000/28 (Parts I and II)), part I, section entitled “Article VII and the
security of non-nuclear-weapon States”, para. 2.

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15. Urges the nuclear-weapon States to carry out further reductions of

non-strategic nuclear weapons, based on unilateral initiatives and as an integral part
of the nuclear arms reduction and disarmament process;
16. Calls for the immediate commencement of negotiations in the
Conference on Disarmament on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and
internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile
material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices on the basis of the
report of the Special Coordinator 18 and the mandate contained therein;
17. Urges the Conference on Disarmament to commence as early as possible
its substantive work during its 2014 session, while welcoming the establishment of
the informal working group with a mandate to produce a programme of work robust
in substance and progressive over time in implementation, on the basis of a
comprehensive and balanced programme of work that takes into consideration all
the real and existing priorities in the field of disarmament and arms control,
including the immediate commencement of negotiations on such a treaty with a
view to their conclusion within five years;
18. Calls for the conclusion of an international legal instrument or
instruments on adequate and unconditional security assurances to non-nuclear-
weapon States;
19. Also calls for the early entry into force and strict observance of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 8 while welcoming the recent ratification
of the Treaty by Brunei Darussalam, Chad, Guinea-Bissau and Iraq;
20. Expresses its regret that the Conference on Disarmament was unable to
establish an ad hoc committee to deal with nuclear disarmament in 2013, as called
for by the General Assembly in its resolution 67/60;
21. Reiterates its call upon the Conference on Disarmament to establish, as
soon as possible and as the highest priority, an ad hoc committee on nuclear
disarmament in 2014 and to commence negotiations on a phased programme of
nuclear disarmament leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons within a
specified framework of time;
22. Calls for the convening of an international conference on nuclear
disarmament in all its aspects at an early date to identify and deal with concrete
measures of nuclear disarmament;
23. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its
sixty-ninth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution;
24. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-ninth session,
under the item entitled “General and complete disarmament”, the sub-item entitled
“Nuclear disarmament”.

60th plenary meeting

5 December 2013

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18
CD/1299.

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