On the Eve of the NPT Review Conference International Civil Society Demands an End to Wars & a Nuclear Weapons-Free World
At a time when the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock had been set to 85 seconds to midnight—the closest ever to global catastrophe—and when the viability of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was under increasing strain, an international coalition of nuclear disarmament and peace organizations gathered on the eve of the 11th NPT Review Conference. The moment reflected what Antonio Gramsci described as a “time of monsters,” in which the old world is dying and the new struggles to be born.
Participants issued a clear call: to stop the wars, halt preparations for nuclear conflict, uphold the NPT’s Article VI commitment to good-faith negotiations toward the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, and prevent further proliferation.
On the morning of Sunday, 26 April, hundreds of activists—including nuclear weapons survivors (Hibakusha) from Japan and the United States—gathered at the New York Public Library and marched to the Isaiah Wall across from the United Nations. The demonstration highlighted the growing dangers of nuclear war and urged the NPT Review Conference to take meaningful steps toward a nuclear weapon-free world.
Later that afternoon, delegates from global nuclear disarmament movements convened at Scandinavia House in Manhattan. The conference provided a platform to share analyses of escalating nuclear risks amid ongoing wars, profound geopolitical shifts, and intensifying great power confrontations. Discussions emphasized the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and challenged the flawed assumptions of deterrence theory—the notion that nuclear modernization and arms racing can ensure peace and security.
The gathering concluded with a renewed commitment to strengthening international cooperation, advancing disarmament strategies, and mobilizing collective action to move humanity away from the brink of nuclear catastrophe.
Conference Recording
Program
NPT Speeches
- NPT Welcome Speech Joseph Gerson
- Power, Politics, and Democracy in the Nuclear Age
- Toward a Nuclear-Free Korean Peninsula
- Tectonic Geopolitical Changes: Which Way to Peace and A Nuclear Weapon-Free World (Ray Acheson)
- Tectonic Geopolitical Changes: Which Way to Peace & a Nuclear Weapon-Free World (Jacqueline Cabasso)
- Atomic Bombs Are Weapons of the Devil That Cannot Coexist with Humanity (Hiroshima survivor, Jiro Hamasumi)
- Josefin Lind’s Conference Speech
- Alicia Sanders-Zakre – Conference Speech
- Conference Closing Remarks (Kevin Martin)
NPT Conference and Events Gallery
Special thanks to our IPB Co-President Joseph Gerson for leading and organizing this event. A heartfelt thank you to all the co-organizers, sponsors, speakers, participants, partners, and everyone behind the scenes, and to every person who made this possible.