Today, a group of states put forward a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to start negotiations towards a new treaty that would prohibit nuclear weapons.

What does that mean? It means our hard work is starting to pay off.

The states leading this initiative are Mexico, Austria, Ireland, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. While a majority of states have expressed support for developing a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, fierce opposition to this resolution is expected from the nuclear-armed states. States will vote on the resolution during the period 24 October to 2 November.

A copy of the resolution can be found here. And there’s a great story from Associated Press here.

The resolution proposes two negotiating conferences over 20 days at the United Nations in New York to conclude a new international treaty that would prohibit nuclear weapons.

This is a historic breakthrough in global efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons and a huge victory for us!

Beatrice Fihn, ICAN