Astana hosts nuclear disarmament conference

Astana, 26 August 2010 - Kazakhstan hosts an international conference on nuclear disarmament in its capital Astana to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests, officially observed on August 29. In 2009, at the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly, the Government of Kazakhstan put forward a proposal calling for the establishment of an International Day against Nuclear Tests. The idea won unanimous support, reflecting the international community's deep concern about the dangers posed by such tests.

The first observance of the Day will be on 29 August 2010. It was on that date in 1991 that the President of Kazakhstan closed the test site at Semipalatinsk, where the former Soviet Union detonated 456 nuclear weapons, with devastating effects on the landscape. Today, with Kazakhstan having banished nuclear weapons and joined in creating a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, Semipalatinsk has become a powerful symbol of hope that a world free of nuclear weapons is an achievable objective.

There is real momentum behind this great cause. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference ended successfully, invigorating the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. The Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C. made important headway. Bold initiatives by world leaders and civil society are showing the way toward reduced arsenals and changed policies.

The initiative to convene the conference was taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the United Nations Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan and UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.

Attending the conference were Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Executive Secretary Tibor Toth, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Deputy Director General Werner Burkart, UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) Head Miroslav Jenca and UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and CIS Kori Udovicki, Representative of Kazakhstan to the UNESCO Olzhas Suleimenov, as well as representatives of embassies and international organizations, national governance bodies, Semey city administration, etc.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, UNESCO Director General I.Bokova and the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, have addressed to the participants of the conference.

The conference focused on the political aspects of cessation of nuclear tests and denuclearization.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a moratorium on all nuclear tests before the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) comes into force, his special representative Miroslav Jenca told an international conference on nuclear disarmament. The CTBT, which was opened for signature in 1996, has been signed by 165 countries so far, but only 91 countries, including Russia, Britain and France, have ratified it. The treaty will not come into force until the 44 most nuclear advanced countries have ratified it. Only 31 have done so so far. India, Pakistan and North Korea have not even signed the document yet. Earlier this month, Ban set the target year for CTBT's entry into force for 2012. But before that date, Ban Ki-moon has called on all countries to impose a moratorium on all nuclear tests. Russia joined the call. "It is important to provide a moratorium on nuclear tests before the treaty comes into force," Russian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mikhail Bocharnikov said. Kazakh Foreign Minister and Acting Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Kanat Saudabayev called on the United States, to ratify the treaty as soon as possible.

"Today it is important to start developing the Universal Declaration of Nuclear-Free World outlining determination of all states to follow the ideals of the nuclear-free world", Kazakh Secretary of State - Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev cites the address of the Kazakh President to participants of the international conference.

The Conference also discussed socio-economic and environmental problems and prospects of development of the Semey region.

“A lot was done in the last 11 years; today we see that the region has an impressive array of projects and research on radiology and ecology, better healthcare infrastructure, dedicated social support, a growing business community, more active civil society organisations that contribute to the discussion about remaining challenges. As we take stock of these results and reflect on the past experience, we learn an important lesson: that the investments made in human development need to be upscaled and sustained in the upcoming years, in order to put the region on a stable pattern of development and growth. What draws back greater progress is weak coordination among government programmes and with international assistance initiatives”, - says UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and CIS Kori Udovicki at the conference.

As the result of the conference, the participants adopted an appeal to the world community, a new joint program and action plan on Semey development.