Australian High Commission
Colombo
MEDIA RELEASE
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18 December 2009
Towards a Nuclear Weapon Free World: Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
The Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, “Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers”, was presented on 15 December in Tokyo to the Prime Ministers of Australia and Japan, their excellencies Kevin Rudd and Yukio Hatoyama, by the Commission Co-Chairs, former foreign ministers Gareth Evans and Yoriko Kawaguchi.
The Commission, initially proposed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd following his visit in July 2008 to the Hiroshima peace memorial, was launched in September 2008 in New York as a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese Governments.
The Commission’s stated aim was to reinvigorate, at a high political level, global debate on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, in the context both of the forthcoming 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, and beyond.
Speaking at the event the Prime Minister Rudd said, “We welcome the fact that a report of such substance has been produced to provide such an important framework for practical discussions on how to advance this great cause of non-proliferation disarmament in what will be a critical year for the world.”
The report is the unanimous product of an independent global panel of fifteen commissioners, supported by a high-level international advisory board and worldwide network of research centres, who together brought an unprecedented level of technical and policy expertise, and strategic and political experience.