PRESS INVITATION: Inauguration of the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament

The current nuclear threat is the most serious since the end of the Cold War. How did we get here and what role can the new Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament play? On 19 October, Uppsala University will inaugurate this highly relevant centre. Speakers at the inauguration include Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, and Rupal N. Mehta, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu will speak at the inauguration remotely.

The Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament (AMC) was established at Uppsala University in 2021, with a national mandate to collect global knowledge on disarmament issues. AMC will provide education, research and policy support on disarmament, collaborate with international researchers, educate disarmament experts for coming generations and help to inform the public about disarmament issues.

Journalists are cordially invited to the inauguration on Wednesday 19 October. The doors to the Grand Auditorium will open at 14:15 and the ceremony will begin at 15:00. Venue: University Main Building, Biskopsgatan 3, Uppsala.Registration is required. Send an email to press@uu.se and tell us how many of you will be coming and if you would like to interview anyone in particular. Please contact us by Monday 17 October.

Speakers:

Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2017

Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (participating via link)

Ann-Sofie Nilsson, Head of the Department for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

Rupal N. Mehta, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

Cecilia Wikström, Chair of the Governing Board, Alva Myrdal Centre

Peter Wallensteen, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University

Tora Holmberg, Professor of Sociology, Vice-Rector of the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Uppsala University

The inauguration is also the opening ceremony for AMC’s first annual conference. You will find the complete programme for the conference (19–22 October) here: https://www.uu.se/alvamyrdalcentre/Annual+Conference