BERLIN (IDN) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed to revitalize “the global disarmament and non-proliferation agenda in the field of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction” when he spelt out beginning of the year his vision for the second term at the world body’s helm. He is now doing his utmost to turn the vision into reality.

One significant building block in that vision is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiated in Geneva between 1994 and 1996. Pushing hard for its ratification, Ban declared on February 17: “There is no good reason to avoid signing or ratifying this Treaty. Any country opposed to signing or ratifying it is simply failing to meet its responsibilities as a member of the international community.”

He added: “It is irresponsible to see this Treaty still waiting to come into effect 15 years after it was opened for signature. I stand ready to visit those capitals suspicious about the reliability of the Treaty’s monitoring and inspection systems.”

Online campaign

The CTBTO headed by Tibor Tóth has launched an online campaign “Close the Door on Nuclear Testing – Raise your voice for a safer, more secure world. Join the campaign to Close the Door on Nuclear Testing!

For more on this story, visit: UN Pushes Hard for Global Ban on Nuke Tests.