Secretary-General, in Message to International Atomic Energy Agency

 

General Conference, Commends Efforts to Reduce Nuclear Threat

 

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the fifty-fourth session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered by Sergio Duarte, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, in Vienna, today, 20 September:

I am pleased to send my greetings to the fifty-fourth session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.  I congratulate Director General [Yukiya] Amano on his successful first year in office.

This has been a year of serious efforts to reduce the nuclear threat; these included the NPT Review Conference, the Washington Summit on nuclear security and the agreement by [the Russian Federation] and the United States on a new START treaty.  For my part, during my visits to the nuclear testing site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, and then to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, I was personally moved by the yearning of many millions of people for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The IAEA’s technical expertise will be of vital importance as we seek practical solutions to obstacles on the road to global zero.  The Agency has continued its constructive work to advance non-proliferation and enhance nuclear safety and security.  It has also undertaken fruitful efforts to promote the implementation of the Additional Protocol.  I also welcome our close partnership in the Security Council Committees on terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.

With respect to nuclear security, the Washington Summit endorsed a strong role for the IAEA, while underscoring the fundamental responsibility of Governments.  I call on all States that have not yet signed and ratified the International Convention to Suppress Acts of Nuclear Terrorism to do so immediately.

This has also been another year of active IAEA efforts to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy.  Here, too, the United Nations and the IAEA are pursuing similar goals, as shown by our work in the inter-agency “UN-Energy” mechanism.  It was in this spirit of mutual cooperation that, last January, I organized the first-ever joint meeting of the heads of the United Nations, IAEA, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

I have also invited the IAEA to participate in the forthcoming High-level Meeting at the United Nations on Revitalizing the Work of the Conference on Disarmament and Taking Forward Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations.  Looking ahead, the IAEA is also well placed to help explore the technical, legal and political aspects of a nuclear weapons convention.

The international community must build on the positive momentum that has been generated.  I look forward to working with you across this agenda.  Please accept my best wishes for a successful conference.

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For information media • not an official record