July 9, 2024 Pugwash Secretariat:
Remembering Sérgio Duarte (1934-2024)
The Pugwash Community is saddened to learn of the passing of Sérgio Duarte, former President of Pugwash and a committed champion of nuclear disarmament. He was a man of deep expertise and experience which he tirelessly applied to multilateralism and finding solutions for ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Sérgio was a great friend to all in the disarmament community, a diplomat by character as well as training who was always prepared to listen to all perspectives with the expectation of finding common ground.
Before being elected as Pugwash President in 2017, Amb. Duarte served on the Pugwash Council for five years following his retirement from the United Nations UN as the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2007-12). In 2005, as the Brazilian representative he served as the President of the Seventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Prior to this, Sérgio Duarte had a distinguished career, serving the Brazilian Foreign Service for almost 50 years. He was the Ambassador of Brazil in a number of countries, including Austria, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia concurrently, China, Canada, and Nicaragua as well as to the UN organizations headquartered in Vienna. He also served in Switzerland, the United States, Argentina, and Italy. He served as the Brazilian representative to several international organizations, focusing on disarmament issues.
Full information: https://pugwash.org/2024/07/09/remembering-sergio-duarte-1934-2024/
It should be noted that at the 62nd Pugwash Conference (Astana, Kazakhstan, August 25-29, 2017), Ambassador Sergio Duarte was elected President of the Pugwash Movement and, ex officio, a member of the Council and Executive Committee of the Pugwash Movement. In January 2024, due to health reasons, Ambassador Sergio Duarte resigned as President of the Pugwash Movement, but continued to be interested in its activities. On July 8, 2024, at the age of 90, Sergio Duarte died.
The leadership and members of the Pugwash Committee of Kazakhstan express their sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. His name will forever remain in the memory of all who had the honor of working with him.