The Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has been convened by the United Nations. The conference, which began on Monday at the UN office in New York, will end on May 22.

The president-designate of the conference is Do Hung Viet, the permanent representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The NPT, according to the UN, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, further the goals of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

It represents the only legally binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon countries. Opened for signature in 1968, the treaty entered into force in 1970. Since then, the NPT has remained the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

One hundred and ninety-one countries have joined the treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon nations, making the NPT one of the most widely adhered-to multilateral disarmament agreements. Conferences to review the operation of the NPT have been held at five‑year intervals since its entry into force in 1970, except for the review conference originally scheduled for 2020, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ultimately held in 2022.

The NPT RevCon is expected to assess the implementation of the treaty since 2022 across its three pillars (nuclear disarmament, non‑proliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy). The conference will also seek to identify the areas and means for further progress.

The 2015 and 2022 review conferences were unable to reach an agreement on the substantive part of the final document. The conference is expected to begin with a general debate, followed by thematic discussions under each of the three pillars of the treaty. The general debate will be attended by high‑level representatives, including ministers of foreign affairs, as well as senior representatives of key international organisations.