State Department offers updates on nuclear disarmament initiative

The U.S. State Department issued a report Tuesday that provided updated information on the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV).

The IPNDV will meet Nov. 16-18 to finalize terms of reference and begin the process of officially launching three working groups within the partnership: the Monitoring and Verification Objectives working group, to be chaired by the Netherlands and Italy; the Technical Challenges and Solutions working group, to be chaired by Sweden and the U.S.; and the On-site Inspections working group, which will be chaired by Australia and Poland.

The IPNDV was initially proposed in December 2014 by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller. The partnership aims to provide a framework so that both nuclear and non-nuclear states are able to work to find solutions to challenges relating to nuclear disarmament.

The three working groups were agreed upon during the IPNDV's inaugural meeting in March.

In preparation of the November meeting, the U.S. and the Nuclear Threat Initiative will host "Building a Path Forward: Update on the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification," a public event at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Oct. 14.