The United Nations is observing the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, renewing calls for a world free of atomic arms.

The day, marked annually on September 26, commemorates the General Assembly’s 2013 declaration that nuclear disarmament is a global priority. This year’s observance comes amid heightened nuclear rhetoric worldwide.

UN officials warned that the risk of nuclear weapons use is at its highest in decades, citing modernisation programmes and the erosion of arms control treaties. Nine countries currently possess nuclear weapons.

Disarmament advocates urged nuclear-armed states to return to the negotiating table and recommit to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. They called for concrete steps rather than symbolic gestures.

The observance includes high-level meetings at UN headquarters in New York. Civil society groups are holding parallel events calling for ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The UN chief said every dollar spent on arms was a dollar not spent on development.