The United Nations will convene negotiations in 2017 on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”. This new international agreement will place nuclear weapons on the same legal footing as other weapons of mass destruction, which have long been outlawed.

The negotiations will take place at UN headquarters in New York from 27 to 31 March and from 15 June to 7 July 2017, with the participation of governments, international organizations and civil society representatives. A one-day organizational session will also be held in New York ahead of the March negotiations.