UAE Participates in NPT Preparatory Committee Meeting in New York

A high-level delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) participates at the third Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which is taking place at the United Nations Office in New York from 28 April to 9 May 2014. This 2014 NPT PrepCom is the final of three PrepCom meetings in the current NPT review cycle, which will be completed at the next Review Conference in 2015. 



The UAE delegation is led by H.E. Ambassador Hamad Alkaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and includes other high-level UAE officials. 

The 2014 NPT PrepCom will finalize the preparatory work for the 2015 Review Conference in terms of assessing the implementation of each article of the NPT and facilitating discussion among States in order to make recommendations to the 2015 Review Conference. The central focus of the PrepCom is the implementation of the 2010 NPT Action Plan. 

“The UAE has always been committed to ensuring global security and the reduction of threats posed by nuclear weapons. We continue to take further tangible steps to support the implementation of the Action Plan adopted at the 2010 NPT Review Conference,” said H.E. Ambassador Hamad Alkaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the IAEA, confirming his Government’s view. 

Today Ambassador Alkaabi delivered a national statement at the PrepCom highlighting the UAE’s views and contributions to the NPT review cycle including the implementation of the 2010 NPT Action Plan. 

“The NPT review process comes with a lot of challenges, but given the importance of the NPT framework in ensuring global peace and security, the UAE hopes that all delegations will work together at this PrepCom constructively to establish priorities for the 2015 Review Conference and achieve positive progress,“ Ambassador Akaabi commented. 

UAE is also joined multiple regional and group statements as well submission of a number of group working papers on topics such as disarmament, transparency, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, de-alerting, the establishment of a weapons-of-mass-destruction-free zone in the Middle East, and withdrawal from the Treaty. 

Full text of the UAE national statement to the 2014 NPT PrepCom is available at: http://uae-mission.ae/mission/iaea/Content/1448 


Background 

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which entered into force in 1970, is regarded as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to further the goal of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. 

Every five years, a Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT is traditionally held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to review the Treaty’s implementation and to advance the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. Since the last 2010 Review Conference, two Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) Conferences met for two weeks in 2012 (Vienna) and 2013 (Geneva). The 2014 NPT PrepCom session is the last of three held prior to the 2015 Review Conference in New York.

Currently, there are 190 States Parties to the Treaty including the United Arab Emirates, which acceded to the NPT in 1995.