Kazakhstan, Kiribati adopt joint statement at UN on Rehabilitation of Territories Affected by Nuclear Tests

NEW YORK. KAZINFORM - At the UN General Assembly’s First Committee session on the 30th anniversary of the closing of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Kiribati issued a Joint statement in support of positive obligations under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Kazinform has learnt from the press service of the Kazakh MFA.

Kiribati is a small island developing state in the Pacific Ocean, which was affected by the repercussions of nuclear tests conducted by the US and Great Britain in the 1950s and the 1960s.

Positive obligations under the Treaty provide for assistance to residents and remediation of the environment that were affected by radioactive contamination in the aftermath of nuclear tests.

TPNW was adopted on July 7, 2017 with support from 122 states and entered into force in January 2021 following its ratification by 50 states. This document declares nuclear weapons illegal and represents an important step towards their complete elimination.

Kazakhstan actively participated in the negotiations on the Treaty and became the 26th state to have delivered ratification instrument to the UN Secretariat on August 29, 2019, thus giving a powerful impulse to its entry into force.