UN to kick off conference to review non-proliferation treaty

The United Nations is scheduled to open a month-long conference at its headquarters in New York on Monday to discuss such issues as the nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy in a bid to strengthen the non-proliferation regime, and improve the security and safety of nuclear materials and related establishments.

The conference, known as the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), will be held at the United Nations on May 3-28. The President-elect of the Review Conference is Libran N. Cabactulan, the ambassador of the Philippines to the United Nations.

Conferences to review the operation of the Treaty have been held at five-year intervals since the Treaty went into effect in 1970. Each conference has sought to find agreement on a final declaration that would assess the implementation of the Treaty's provisions and make recommendations on measures to further strengthen it.

The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.

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