co-sponsored by 57 nations, l41 calls for a 2017 conference <u+2018>to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination<u+2019> the united nations on thursday adopted a landmark resolution calling for the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide.




resolution l.41 (pdf) was accepted by a vote of 123-38, with 16 member nations abstaining. the vote was held during a meeting of the first committee of the un general assembly, which deals with disarmament and international security matters.




<u+201c>for seven decades, the un has warned of the dangers of nuclear weapons, and people globally have campaigned for their abolition. today the majority of states finally resolved to outlaw these weapons,<u+201d> said beatrice fihn, executive director of international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons (ican).




setsuko thurlow , a survivor of the hiroshima and leading proponent of a ban, also celebrated thursday<u+2019>s vote.




<u+201c>this is a truly historic moment for the entire world,<u+201d> thurlow said. <u+201c>for those of us who survived the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki, it is a very joyous occasion. we have been waiting so long for this day to come.<u+201d>




as expected, nuclear powers including the united states, france, canada, israel, russia, and the united kingdom, as well as several of their european allies, were among the nations who voted against the ban.




it was a long journey to get to this point, but totally worth it! #goodbyenukes #firstcommittee pic.twitter.com/sm5mfzsxzf




<u+2014> michael hurley (@mdghurley) october 27, 2016
us votes 'no' as un adopts landmark resolution calling to ban nuclear weapons
hqanon