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STORY: CTBTO / NUCLEAR TESTING
TRT: 02:50
SOURCE: CTBTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary, CTBTO:
“It's important to be at the General Assembly to help promote the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. It's an opportunity to liaise with countries that are not traditionally part of our work. It's true that we've achieved near universality with a hundred and eighty-four countries that have signed, a hundred and sixty-eight that have ratified.”
3. Pan right, conference room
4. Med shot, conference leadership
5. Med shot, Helen McEntee, Minister for European Affairs, Ireland at podium
6. Med shot, Federica Mogherini, European Union High Representative / Vice-President
7. Med shot, Vivan Okeke, Ambassador, Nigeria
8. Med shot, Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary, CTBTO:
“But there's still those countries, that are maybe because they are not well-informed or because they're still hesitant with regard to the verifiability of the treaty, it's always good to exchange with them and then see how best we can open dialogue and then contribute to the constellation of ratification of signatures. That's why we're here, because it's an important place to be.”
10. Pan right, UN conference room
11. Med shot, Lassina Zerbo delivering remarks
12. Med shot, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, the UN and South Asia, UK
13. Med shot, Jens Frølich Holte, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
14. Med shot, Toshimitsu Motegi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
15. Med shot, Ricardo Luis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Argentina
16. Med shot, Marise Payne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Australia
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary, CTBTO:
“I've often said that there is no better place than the CTBT and its technical secretariat, it's provisional technical secretariat, where you gather experts, scientists, the best in the world in their fields, to drive policy the way we do.”
18. Med shot, Lassina Zerbo while delivering remarks
19. Med shot, Lassina Zerbo delivering remarks
20. Med shot, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France
21. Med shot, Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kazakhstan
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary, CTBTO:
“And it is the work of those scientists that have proven that the Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, is verifiable.”
21. Wide shot, UN conference room
On Wednesday (25 Sep) foreign ministers and representatives of over 50 countries met at the United Nations to discuss one of the most universally signed nuclear disarmament agreements, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty or CTBT.
Since 1996, when the Test-Ban-Treaty was first opened for signature, over 180 countries have signed on, banning nuclear tests. However, until eight more key countries sign and ratify the Treaty, it cannot enter into force.
Lassina Zerbo, who is the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the CTBTO, a Vienna-based organization tasked by the United Nations to verify compliance of the CTBT, said, “it's important to be at the General Assembly to help promote the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.”
Zerbo said, “it's an opportunity to liaise with countries that are not traditionally part of our work. It's true that we've achieved near universality with a hundred and eighty-four countries that have signed, a hundred and sixty-eight that have ratified.”
The CTBTO “Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT” was held during the United Nations 74th General Assembly in New York. The goal is to allow all countries to exchange perspectives, build consensus, and work toward getting the needed signatures.
Zerbo added, “but there's still those countries, that are maybe because they are not well-informed or because they're still hesitant with regard to the verifiability of the treaty, it's always good to exchange with them and then see how best we can open dialogue and then contribute to the constellation of ratification of signatures. That's why we're here, because it's an important place to be.”
At the heart of the CTBTO's diplomatic effort is its network of over 300 monitoring stations poised to detect any nuclear event in real time and alert the world immediately.
Zerbo said, “I've often said that there is no better place than the CTBT and its technical secretariat, it's provisional technical secretariat, where you gather experts, scientists, the best in the world in their fields, to drive policy the way we do,” adding that “it is the work of those scientists that have proven that the Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, is verifiable.”
Diplomatic representatives of nearly 50 countries spoke in support of the Test-Ban-Treaty at the conference, and all participants signed a joint statement urging all UN member states to sign and ratify the Treaty.
