Joint Statement by Commission Co-Chairs Gareth Evans and Yoriko Kawaguchi on the Conclusion of the Meeting of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament 

Tokyo and Hiroshima, Japan 16-20 October 2009

The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament held its fourth meeting in Hiroshima, 16-20 October 2009.

The Commission and Advisory Board Members held intensive discussions to finalise its draft report - which is to be issued early next year in advance of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. The Commission aims to reinvigorate the global debate on nuclear disarmament and on preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons to other parts of the world.

The report is to help build an international consensus in advance of the May 2010 (NPT) Review Conference. There was a particularly strong focus on strategic aspects of moves to reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons world-wide, and to achieve the conditions which might permit the ultimate goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Commission members strongly supported the report’s main focus - a three-phased action agenda aimed at delivering on its key recommendations: Short Term to 2012 – achieving initial benchmarks; Medium Term to 2025 – getting to the minimization point, and; Long Term beyond 2025 – getting to zero.
Before meeting in Hiroshima, Co-Chairs held high level talks on the Commission’s final report with Prime Minister Hatoyama and Foreign Minister Okada in Tokyo. The Commission also met and briefed NGO representatives in Hiroshima at a round-table discussion hosted by the ICNND Japan NGO Network on the Commission’s final report.

The Commission also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, heard the testimony of one of the “Hibakusha” (atomic bomb victims) and met with Hiroshima community groups concerned with the human dimension of nuclear weapons.

The Commission, co-chaired by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans and former Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, is an independent global initiative established in 2008, supported by the Governments of Australia and Japan. The Commission is a global panel which includes former heads of state and senior ministers, military strategists and disarmament experts. It is supported by an Advisory Board of international experts and works in collaboration with research centres from around the world. The Commission will undertake a range of outreach activities to brief key government and non-government stakeholders following the launch of its report in 2010.

For further information please contact: ICNND Japanese Secretariat: Shigeru Umetsu 090 4753 8585 (Japanese); ICNND Australian Secretariat: Leona Landers +61 2 6261 2812 (Mobile: +61 2 421 488457) (English)]; Australian Embassy Tokyo: Alice O’Reilly 03 5427 4423 (Mobile: 090 8082 5527) (English and Japanese)

List of Participants: Commission Meeting, Hiroshima, 18-20 October 2009

Commissioners

Prof Gareth Evans (Co-Chair - Australia)
Ms Yoriko Kawaguchi (Co-Chair – Japan)
Prince Turki Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia)
Dr Alexei Arbatov (Russia)
Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway)
Dr Frene Noshir Ginwala (South Africa)
Mr Francois Heisbourg (France)
Mr Brajesh Mishra (India)
Gen (ret.) Klaus Naumann (Germany)
Dr William Perry (United States)
Amb Wang Yingfan (China)
Baroness Shirley Williams (United Kingdom)
Amb Wiryono Sastrohandoyo (Indonesia)
Dr Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico)

Advisory Board Members

Amb Nobuyasu Abe (Japan)
Mr John Carlson (Australia)
Ms Louise Frechette (Canada)
Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman (United Kingdom)
Dr Shunsuke Kondo (Japan)
Ms Martine Letts/ Mr Rory Medcalf (Australia)
Ms Patricia Lewis (United Kingdom)
Prof Andrea Margelletti (Italy)
Dr George Perkovich (United States)
Lt Gen (ret.) V.R. Raghavan (India)
Ambassador Yukio Satoh (Japan)