Media Advisory
15 August 2018
Deputy Minister Landers to address the African Regional Conference on Nuclear Disarmament and Lethal Autonomous Weapons in Pretoria
The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Luwellyn Landers, will tomorrow, 16 August 2018, address the African Regional Conference on Nuclear Disarmament and Lethal Autonomous Weapons at the Premier Hotel in Pretoria.
The Conference will be co-hosted by the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
The Conference will bring together members of the diplomatic corps, international organisations and civil society to engage on ways and means of taking forward the landmark adoption of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on 07 July 2017.
The adoption of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons is a historic achievement given that the elimination of weapons of mass destruction has been on the multilateral agenda for more than 70 years since the adoption of the very first resolution by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946.
Participants will also examine the prospect of the development of weapons, which once activated, could select and engage targets without human control. This category of weapons has been termed Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS).
Discussions will focus on the range of humanitarian, ethical, legal and technological considerations pertaining to such weapons.
The Regional Conference is a contribution to South Africa’s active involvement in international disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control efforts aimed at the creation of a safer and better world for all.
Enquiries: Mr Ndivhuwo Mabaya, 083 645 7838 or Mabayan@dirco.gov.za
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
OR Tambo Building
460 Soutpansberg Road
Rietondale
Pretoria
0084
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