The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Friday welcomed the January 22 entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
"The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement welcomes the entry into force today of the first instrument of international humanitarian law to include provisions to help address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using and testing nuclear weapons," the organizations said in a joint statement.
The treaty obliges all 51 state parties that have ratified the agreement to disengage from the use, production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons for the good of humanity, the organizations noted.
"Today is a victory for humanity. This Treaty – the result of more than 75 years of work – sends a clear signal that nuclear weapons are unacceptable from a moral, humanitarian, and now a legal point of view. It sets in motion even higher legal barriers and an even greater stigmatization of nuclear warheads than already exists. It allows us to imagine a world free from these inhumane weapons as an achievable goal," ICRC President Peter Maurer said.
The humanitarian organizations further called on other world leaders to join the treaty.
The TPNW was adopted by the United Nations in July 2017. On October 24, 2020, Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the TPNW, passing the threshold for the treaty to take effect in 90 days.
All five permanent members of the UN Security Council oppose the pact, as they fear it will undermine the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.