DYB2011-Part-II-web

United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2011: Part II
10
International Day against Nuclear Tests
The CTBTO Preparatory Commission organized a number of outreach
activities at the United Nations in Vienna and New York to raise awareness
about the International Day against Nuclear Tests on 29 August. The Day was
established by the General Assembly in its resolution 64/35 of 2 December
2009 at the initiative of Kazakhstan.
International Forum for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World
The Executive Secretary of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission joined
over 500 high-level officials, lawmakers, non-proliferation specialists and
media representatives from around the world at the International Forum for a
Nuclear-Weapon-Free World in Astana on 12 October. Kazakhstan organized
the meeting on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the closure of the
Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk. The Forum adopted a Declaration on
a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World, 17 which included a call to all States to ratify
the CTBT and to refrain from nuclear testing.
Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-
Ban Treaty Organization
Political support
Momentum for the entry into force of the CTBT was sustained in 2011
with ratifications by Guinea and Ghana. The Treaty’s 182 signatures and 155
ratifications as at the end of 2011 reflected the near universal recognition
within the international community that the Treaty was an effective instrument
of collective security and an important pillar of the nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament regime. Furthermore, the verification regime being
established by the CTBTO to monitor the globe for nuclear explosions was
now approaching completion, with over 80 per cent of its monitoring facilities
fully operational.
Capacity Development Initiative
In addition to training hundreds of technical experts in CTBT
verification-related fields over the years, the CTBTO Preparatory Commission
launched a new Capacity Development Initiative in 2011 aimed at training the
next generation of CTBT experts. It was based on the recognition that building
and maintaining the necessary capacity, particularly in the developing world,
to effectively tackle the scientific, political and legal challenges that are
facing the multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament regime is of critical
importance.
17 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, “Declaration on a Nuclear-
Weapon-Free World: Astana, October 12, 2011”. Available from http://portal.mfa.kz/
portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/news/nws2011/2011-10-12 (accessed 10 May 2012).