Dear Friend --

As you know, we’ve been preparing for the first Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) with a lot of excitement, but it remains hard to make plans during this pandemic.

Today, we have received confirmation that the MSP is officially postponed for a few months due to COVID-19 considerations. New dates are currently under consideration in May, June and July. We are in constant contact with organizers, and we will let you know the moment new dates are confirmed.

As ICAN, we welcome the states' parties choice and applaud their commitment to inclusivity. Going ahead with the meeting in March would have meant a reduced, mostly online format that didn’t honour the inclusive nature of the treaty. The TPNW has always been set apart by including civil society and impacted communities, and some of its most powerful obligations stem from their involvement. With this delay, the MSP is guaranteed more participation by different types of voices and will continue to play to the treaty's strengths. 

The delay also gives ICAN campaigners around the world another chance to push more states to participate in the meeting, prepare bigger and bolder plans and will help us bring a diverse group of campaigners to the MSP. ICAN's strength has always been our ability to deal with the unexpected, and surpass expectations.

So while we will have to wait a little longer to bring the world together in Vienna to talk about the Ban Treaty, we’re also seeing it as an opportunity to make our plans even better.

Thank you for continuing to stand with us,

Beatrice Fihn
Executive Director
ICAN

It’s time to end nuclear weapons.

Support ICAN’s work