CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo delivers statement to the 2017 NPT PrepCom
Vienna, 2 May 2017
On 2 May 2017, CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo delivered the following statement to the 2017 Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2020 Review Conference (RevCon) of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The 2017 NPT PrepCom, which runs from 2 May to 12 May at the Vienna International Centre, is the first of three sessions that are scheduled to be held leading up to the 2020 NPT RevCon.
At the three PrepCom sessions, States parties to the NPT, will discuss substantive and procedural issues relating to the Treaty and the 2020 NPT RevCon. The Chair of the 2017 NPT PrepCom is Ambassador Henk Cor Van der Kwast of the Netherlands.
In the opening session, distinguished speakers including Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, underlined the vital importance of an in-force CTBT in the NPT context. Widely regarded as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the NPT (PDF) opened for signature in 1968, entered into force in 1970, and was extended indefinitely at the 1995 NPT RevCon.
Based on three pillars (non-proliferation, disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy), the NPT was negotiated to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, to further the goals of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
NPT Review Conferences take place every five years (the last RevCon was in 2015), and a PrepCom session takes place on each of the three years preceding a RevCon. Read the Executive Secretary's Statement
here (PDF) .
Ambassador Henk Cor Van der Kwast of the Netherlands chaired the meeting
CTBTO Executive Secretary, Lassina Zerbo
Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida
The CTBT's opening for signature was a historic milestone in the efforts to curb the threat of nuclear weapons. But this achievement simply cannot be taken for granted. This reality is even starker given escalating tensions and mounting security challenges facing the international community.