The nuclear-armed powers are modernising their arsenals just as the treaties meant to reduce them are losing their force. President Macky Sall has therefore placed nuclear disarmament among the priorities of his candidacy for UN Secretary-General.

Arsenals rising again. The world holds more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, and the states that possess them are investing to renew them, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The risk of use, by calculation or by accident, has not been this high since the Cold War.

Treaties in retreat. The Non-Proliferation Treaty held together through an exchange: states without the weapon renounced it, and states with it committed to disarm. The second half of that promise is receding. In force since 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons expresses the answer of the majority of nations.

The voice of states without the weapon. Most of humanity lives in countries that do not have the bomb, and Africa forms, under the Treaty of Pelindaba, a nuclear-weapon-free zone. These states have a direct interest in disarmament and the legitimacy to call for it.

Disarmament on the agenda. Cutting arsenals remains a decision for the nuclear-armed powers, while the security of all grows as those arsenals shrink. The Secretary-General can keep the issue on the agenda and back both the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the prohibition treaty.

An African voice in the negotiation. To speak for the states without the weapon, President Macky Sall draws on twelve years as head of state and on the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022. The same experience gave its form to the vision statement filed with the United Nations, where the proposals (development conceived together with peace and security, a renewed multilateralism, a better-governed Organization) carry the weight of obligations.

Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's data are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net