At the invitation of Amman Security Forum, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mounier Zahran, Chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA), as well as H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mahmoud Karem, and Mr. El-Sayed El-Ghannam, First Secretary at Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, Disarmament Affairs Department have participated in the Forum.

The Forum has addressed a number of regional and international issues concerning the region, and the agenda for disarmament, non-proliferation and terrorism. The Forum was opened by Ms. Deborah G. Rosenblum, Executive Vice President at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), on behalf of the Initiative’s Chairmanship (Founder & CEO, Former US Senator Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr.). The Initiative is funded by Amman Nuclear Forum and Dutch Government.

Among the participants in the Forum was H.E. Ambassador Adam Bugajski, Poland’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office and the International Organisations in Vienna, and prospective Chair of the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to be held in Geneva in late April and early May 2018. H.E. Ambassador Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov, of the Russian Federation, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, has participated in the Forum opening ceremony.

Speakers at the Forum included H.E. Minister Khaled Touqan, Chairman of Jordanian Nuclear Energy Authority, H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mahmoud Karem and H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mounier Zahran. The Forum has addressed themes that included topics related to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT); the concluding of a Treaty on Prohibition (Banning) of the Production of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in July 2017, and the boycotting thereof by Nuclear States and their Allies.

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Mounier Zahran pointed out the importance of working to ensure the success of the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, by accelerating the establishment of a Zone Free from Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) prior to the onset of the Conference. He also noted how important it is to review and amend the Conference’s Rules and Regulations so that decisions are made by a two-thirds majority according to Article 18 of the UN Charter, and Civil Society Organizations are allowed to take part in all Deliberations, Committees and Preparatory Committees of the Conference, under all aspects of the Treaty similar to the pattern practiced in the Human Rights Council.