International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023: Date, Significance, Theme

Every year, September 26 is observed globally as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The day aims to raise awareness among people about the threat that nuclear weapons possess to humanity and the need to completely eliminate them to muster the international efforts to achieve the common goal of a world free form nuclear weapon.

September 26 marks the anniversary of 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident which almost started a nuclear war between world’s two greatest powers. The Soviet nuclear weapons early warning system malfunctioned and started detecting a US ballistic missile attack against Moscow. Due to prudence of Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defense Force, who detected that the alarm was false, the war was averted.

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023 Date

Below mentioned are the upcoming dates for International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons for the next 5 years.

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 2023 Overview

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Significance

Currently, there are more than 13000 nuclear weapons in the world possessed by less than ten countries. Others who do not carry their own nuclear weapons are in alliance with the countries having them. The effect of a nuclear holocaust is devastating and the world saw it with its own eyes what happened after nuclear attack in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The number of nuclear weapons is also increasing which means countries are still producing them instead of eliminating them. This is the cause of frustration among Member States regarding the slow pace of nuclear disarmament. At such times, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons provides an opportunity to educate public about the benefits of eliminating such weapons and is therefore observed with great zest by the United Nations.

History of International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Observation

In December 2013, the General Assembly declared the observation of International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in its resolution 68/32. The resolution was adopted as a result of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear disarmament held on 26 September 2013.

In the resolution, the General Assembly called for the “urgent commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament of a comprehensive convention on nuclear weapons to prohibit their possession, development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer and use or threat of use, and to provide for their destruction.” The first of International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons was observed in 2014.

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Celebrations

Many events and seminars are organized by the UN to educate people around the world about the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons. You can attend these events to learn more about the devastating effects of nuclear weapons and the need to eliminate them.

Teaching other about nuclear weapons and spreading awareness of the matter is another way to observe this day. You can watch the documentary movie made on Stanislav Petrov, the lieutenant who averted a nuclear war between US and Russia, The Man Who Saved the World.

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