Yet the threat still looms large.  In the two decades since the resolution was passed, dangers have grown.  Developments in science and technology are racing ahead – threatening to create a new generation of weapons of mass destruction that are easier to access and simpler to use. 
 
As we mark the twentieth anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1540, I urge countries to redouble their efforts to work together, and to bolster national action, in order to implement the resolution urgently and in full.  I also ask them to support our proposed New Agenda for Peace at the Summit of the Future later this year, which specifically recommends strengthening measures to prevent non-State actors acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

Together, let’s stop weapons of mass destruction falling into terrorist hands, and build a safer world for us all.