A/RES/78/50 GA

United Nations A/RES/78/50 General Assembly Distr.: General 6 December 2023 23-24493 (E) 181223 *2324493* Seventy-eighth session Agenda item 99 (i) General and complete disarmament: nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 4 December 2023 [on the report of the First Committee (A/78/409, para. 89)] 78/50. Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 51/45 B of 10 December 1996, 52/38 N of 9 December 1997, 53/77 Q of 4 December 1998, 54/54 L of 1 December 1999, 55/33 I of 20 November 2000, 56/24 G of 29 November 2001, 57/73 of 22 November 2002, 58/49 of 8 December 2003, 59/85 of 3 December 2004, 60/58 of 8 December 2005, 61/69 of 6 December 2006, 62/35 of 5 December 2007, 63/65 of 2 December 2008, 64/44 of 2 December 2009, 65/58 of 8 December 2010, 67/55 of 3 December 2012, 69/35 of 2 December 2014, 70/45 of 7 December 2015, 71/51 of 5 December 2016, 72/45 of 4 December 2017, 74/48 of 12 December 2019 and 76/44 of 6 December 2021, Recalling also the provisions on nuclear-weapon-free zones of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly, the first special session devoted to disarmament,1 Recalling further the adoption by the Disarmament Commission at its 1999 substantive session of a text entitled “Establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned”, 2 Determined to pursue the total elimination of nuclear weapons, Determined also to continue to contribute to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects and to the process of general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, in particular in the field of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, with a view to __________________ 1 Resolution S-10/2. 2 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 42 (A/54/42), annex I. A/RES/78/50 Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas 23-24493 2/3 strengthening international peace and security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Welcoming the entry into force on 22 January 2021 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 3 and its reaffirmation of the conviction that the establishment of the internationally recognized nuclear-weapon-free zones on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned enhances global and regional peace and security, strengthens the nuclear non-proliferation regime and contributes towards realizing the objective of nuclear disarmament, Recalling the Final Document of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 4 which reaffirmed the conviction that the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones contributes towards realizing the objectives of nuclear disarmament, Stressing the importance of the treaties of Tlatelolco, 5 Rarotonga,6 Bangkok7 and Pelindaba 8 establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones, as well as the Antarctic Treaty,9 inter alia, for achieving a world entirely free of nuclear weapons, Recalling resolution 75/312 of 29 July 2021, in which it stressed the role of the zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic as a forum for increased interaction, coordination and cooperation among its member States, Reaffirming the importance of convening the fourth Conference of Nuclear- Weapon-Free Zones and Mongolia at the earliest possible date, Noting that 115 States are currently parties or signatories to nuclear-weapon- free zone treaties, Underlining the value of enhancing cooperation among the nuclear-weapon-free zone treaty members by means of mechanisms such as joint meetings of States parties, signatories and observers to those treaties, Reaffirming the applicable principles and rules of international law relating to the freedom of the high seas and the rights of passage through maritime space, including those of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 1. Reaffirms its conviction of the important role of nuclear-weapon-free zones in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and in extending the areas of the world that are nuclear-weapon-free, and calls for greater progress towards the total elimination of all nuclear weapons; 2. Welcomes the continued contribution that the Antarctic Treaty and the treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok and Pelindaba are making towards freeing the southern hemisphere and adjacent areas covered by those treaties from nuclear weapons; 3. Notes with satisfaction that all nuclear-weapon-free zones in the southern hemisphere and adjacent areas are now in force; __________________ 3 A/CONF.229/2017/8. 4 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, vols. I–III (NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vol. I), NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vol. II) and NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vol. III)). 5 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 634, No. 9068. 6 The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 10: 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.86.IX.7), appendix VII. 7 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1981, No. 33873. 8 A/50/426, annex. 9 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 402, No. 5778. 10 Ibid., vol. 1833, No. 31363. Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas A/RES/78/50 3/3 23-24493 4. Calls upon all States concerned to continue to work together in order to facilitate adherence to the protocols to nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties by all relevant States that have not yet done so, in this regard recalls with appreciation the ratification by China, France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the Protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon- Free Zone in Central Asia 11 and the steps taken by the United States of America towards the ratification of the protocols to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, to the Treaty of Pelindaba and to the Treaty of Rarotonga, and encourages progress with a view to concluding consultations between the nuclear- weapon States and the parties to the Bangkok Treaty on the Protocol to that Treaty; 5. Calls upon the nuclear-weapon States to withdraw any reservations or interpretive declarations contrary to the object and purpose of the treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones; 6. Welcomes the steps taken to conclude further nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned, including the steps taken towards the establishment of a nuclear-weapon- free zone in the Middle East; 7. Congratulates the States parties and signatories to the treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok and Pelindaba, as well as of Central Asia and Mongolia, for their efforts to pursue the common goals envisaged in those treaties and to promote the nuclear-weapon-free status of the southern hemisphere and adjacent areas, and calls upon them to explore and implement further ways and means of cooperation among themselves and their treaty agencies; 8. Encourages efforts to reinforce coordination among nuclear-weapon-free zones; 9. Encourages the competent authorities of the nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties to provide assistance to the States parties and signatories to those treaties so as to facilitate the accomplishment of the goals of the treaties; 10. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eightieth session, under the item entitled “General and complete disarmament”, the sub-item entitled “Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas”. 42nd plenary meeting 4 December 2023 __________________ 11 Ibid., vol. 2970, No. 51633.

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