DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG ADDRESSES EVENT CELEBRATING 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF ENTRY INTO FORCE OF TREATY ON NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze, today stressed the need to build on the momentum to bring closer the widely shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, as he addressed an event organized at the Palais des Nations by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The Director-General stated that while the NPT has come under stress in recent years, the treaty continues to form the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. He therefore described the eighth Review Conference in New York in May as critical for international peace and security.

The Director-General remarked that the current momentum in the area of nuclear disarmament, strongly supported by the United Nations Secretary-General, including through his own five-point action plan, is quite different from the atmosphere that prevailed when the 2005 Review Conference took place. Although Member States were not able to agree on substantive recommendations to transmit to the Review Conference, the third Preparatory Committee, held last year, did manage to agree on the agenda and a number of procedural issues.

Noting that the NPT commits nuclear weapon States to nuclear disarmament, the Director-General said that several States have taken important steps towards the elimination of nuclear weapons and that strong emphasis is being placed on ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by those members whose ratification is necessary for its entry into force. For its part, the Conference on Disarmament is doing its utmost to capitalize on the consensus decision in 2009 on a Programme of Work to start substantive negotiations on a treaty on fissile materials and to address other key issues.

The Director-General emphasized that with 189 States Parties, there are a large number of different national positions but that forging consensus on priorities is a matter of political will. He reiterated the importance of not losing the momentum that has been building for progress on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and expressed the hope that the NPT Review Conference, with a positive outcome, can also send an important signal to move forward the efforts of the Conference on Disarmament.


For use of the information media; not an official record


DG10/006E