September 28, 2018
Download the statement as a PDF document here.
Members of the CTBTO Youth Group (CYG) congratulate Thailand on its ratification and Tuvalu on its signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on 25 September 2018 as part of the proceedings of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. With these additional steps, adherence to the Treaty becomes closer to universal with 184 States having now signed and 167 having now ratified.
Thailand’s ratification of the CTBT completes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s commitment to the CTBT. The CYG welcomes additional young students, policymakers, scientists, and activists from ASEAN Member States, such as Thailand, to join its efforts to promote the CTBT. By doing so, the CYG also hopes to investigate more diverse applications of the Treaty and its verification technologies to further ASEAN’s goals of cooperative peace and shared prosperity. For example, unanimous ASEAN support for the CTBT positively contributes to the wider regional confidence needed to successfully denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
In regard to Tuvalu’s signature of the CTBT, this step towards its future ratification helps strengthen support for the Treaty from Pacific Forum Member States. Given the history of nuclear testing, Pacific Forum members such as Tuvalu relate to the CTBT in a unique way. The CYG also welcomes youth from Pacific Forum Member States such as Tuvalu to join its efforts. By doing so, the CYG hopes to better understand the humanitarian and environmental impacts of nuclear testing, and gear such collective memory towards reminding the world of what is possible if we do not secure the immediate entry-into-force and total universalization of the CTBT. Amongst the 16 Members of the Pacific Islands Forum, only three have yet to ratify the Treaty: Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu, while only one has yet to sign and ratify: Tonga.
In addition to the steps taken by Thailand and Tuvalu, the CYG also welcomes this week’s announcement of the UN Secretary General’s “Youth2030” Strategy. The strategy will guide the UN system in stepping up support for the empowerment of young people, while ensuring that its work fully benefits from their insights and ideas. As one of five key areas of the “Youth2030” strategy, the prioritization of support for young people to participate in peace processes is especially relevant for the CYG. It not only reaffirms commitments made under UN Security Council Resolutions 2250 and 2419, but also highlights the tangible change that young people can make in promoting tools for peace such as the CTBT.
Background:
The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions everywhere, by everyone, and for all times. Over the past 20 years since the treaty opened for signature, a verification regime has been built to ensure that no nuclear explosion goes undetected. Currently, nearly 90 percent of a planned total of 337 stations are operating around the world. The data registered by the IMS can also be used for disaster mitigation such as earthquake monitoring, tsunami warning, and the tracking of the levels and dispersal of radioactivity from nuclear accidents. The Treaty will enter into force once signed and ratified by the remaining eight nuclear technology holding countries listed in Annex 2: China, Egypt, the DPRK, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States.
About the authors:
CTBTO Youth Group (CYG) members actively engage in promoting the CTBT to secure its further universalization and entry-into-force. By helping raise awareness of the importance of the test-ban treaty and its verification regime, the CYG aims to revitalize the discussion around the CTBT among decision-makers, scientists, academia, civil society, and media. The views expressed in this statement are made in the personal capacity of the authors and not on behalf of the CTBTO or of the CYG as a whole. The CTBTO Youth Group is open to all young people who are interested in contributing to global peace and security.
Please join us! Learn more here! #Youth4CTBT
Signatories (A–Z):
1. Aaron Joshua Pinto
2. Aditi Malhotra
3. Ágata Swiatkiewicz
4. Ahmed Al Balushi
5. Aigerim Seitenova
6. Alain Ponce
7. Aldilla Damayanti Purnama Ratri
8. Alexandra Cojocaru
9. Ali Shahabi
10. Antonia Reininger
11. Anzhelika Liliya Nurgaliyeva
12. Arthur shirichena
13. Artyom Botov
14. Asya Shavrova
15. Atta ul Haq
16. Ayano Kitano
17. Azimbe Jumakulov
18. Azimbek Jumakulov
19. Baruchi Malewich
20. Benkattas Khedidja
21. Bora Chea
22. Brenna Gautam
23. Caitlin McLain
24. Cédric van Caloen
25. Daeyoung Kim
26. Daria Gerasimenko
27. David Joël La Boon
28. Diana Kazbekova
29. Eseoghene Christabel Okpalefe
30. Estelita Togatorop
31. Evan Snyder
32. Fredrick Meni
33. Georges Kasay
34. Grace Liu
35. Haithm Alworafi
36. Hamzah Rifaat
37. Haydar Ozan Celik
38. Ibifuro Joy Alasia
39. Ilya Vadimovich Kursenko
40. Jakob Domenig
41. Jaona Andriamampandry
42. Jean-Elie Fontaine
43. Jeremy Faust
44. Joel Obengo
45. Joelle El Sawalhi
46. Karen Masila
47. Kseniia Nepeina
48. Kwangwari Marimira
49. Lisa Seidl
50. Maga Joelle
51. Magdalene Wanyaga
52. Margarita Amortegui
53. Marianna Arghamanyan
54. Marius Jano
55. Mary Dickson
56. Mary Kondakova
57. Maximilian Hoell
58. Meirzhan Temirbayev
59. Meirzhan Temirbayev
60. Melissa Samarin
61. Metin Dokumaci
62. Mona Saleh
63. Monica Montgomery
64. Montserrat Diez López
65. Moses Karinga
66. Muhammad Hussain
67. Muhammad Minhaj Khan
68. Muhammad Qasim
69. Muhammad Sadiq
70. Muhammad Shakir
71. Mungkol Touch
72. Nada Taboun
73. Natalia Zhurina
74. Nathalie Mayer
75. Nelson Zhao
76. Nikita Tsimbalist
77. Nina Yameogo
78. Nir Hassid
79. Nonkululeko Maphalala
80. Oleksiy Zarubin
81. Olesia Pecani
82. Paul Ploberger
83. Philip Boahene
84. Rachel Paik
85. Rahul Mehta
86. Rakotondraibe Tsiriandrimanana (Tsitsi)
87. Rana Al-abboodi
88. Riza Nazri
89. Rizwan Asghar
90. Rofida Hamad Khlifa
91. Sabina Begic
92. Sabina Begic
93. Sahil Shah
94. Samuel Luyckx
95. Sebastian Brixey-Williams
96. Sebastian Kohnen
97. Setou Ouattara
98. Shailesh Kumar
99. Shervin Taheran
100. Shizuka Kuramitsu
101. Sitara Noor
102. Sofya Bukhalina
103. Sophie Kipkwony
104. Sweta Basak
105. Sylvia Mishra
106. Thu Zar Win
107. Uzbekov Abylay
108. Vitaliy Dubrovin
109. Yaa Asantewaa Prempeh
110. Yasmin de Fraiture
111. Yerassyl Kalikhan
112. Yeseul Woo
113. Yoshiko Yamada
114. Yvonne Durowaa Ntow
115. Zachary Berenson-Barros
116. Zeeshan Qadir Memon
117. Ziheng Kevin Bai
