Nuclear Disarmament Projects

The Simons Foundation made an early commitment to the United Nations to provide funding necessary to establish an independent international commission to examine how to reduce the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Foundation provided organizational support throughout the process as the private funder and principal sponsor. The Government of Sweden responded to the UN Under-Secretary-General’s call and formed The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission.

The Steps toward a Nuclear Weapons Convention: Exploring and Developing Legal and Political Aspects seminar and roundtable on November 13, 2008 brought legal and political experts together with delegates from 35 countries, including some Nuclear Weapons States, to explore the legal, technical and political elements required for comprehensive nuclear abolition and to identify steps toward this goal which could be taken in the short and medium term.

The Simons Foundation was the principal sponsor of a groundbreaking poll conducted by Canada’s World on how Canadians see their role in the world, and the role of their country, not simply what they believe their governments should be doing. The Simons Foundation’s primary interest was in citizens’ responses to nuclear issues.

This consultation built on a Strategy Consultation convened in Vancouver in October 1999, at which The Simons Foundation honoured the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, then Canada’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, for his role in calling for a review of NATO’s nuclear policy.

Convened by The Simons Foundation in partnership with The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Project Ploughshares, and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, on October 28-29, 1999.