Delegation of Kazakhstan delivers statement at the closing meeting of the Conference on Disarmament

Geneva, 10 September 2021 - On 10 September Permanent Representative Zhanar Aitzhanova spoke at the closing meeting of the Conference on Disarmament for the current year. She stressed that Kazakhstan is determined to continue the pursuit of common goals in multilateral diplomacy and in in this context disarmament must be the urgent and highest priority.

Speaking about celebrating the International Day against Nuclear Testing on 29 August this year she underlined that this date marked the 30^th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, a decision which eventually led to the adoption of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The representative of Kazakhstan highlighted the relevance of the proposal of President Tokayev to establish an International Agency for Biological Safety in the context of strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention and informed delegations about a fruitful discussion of this subject during the meeting of experts on 8 September in Geneva.

She also briefed participants about a joint ministerial statement issued by regional states on 8 September on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia. The statement calls to support the UN General Assembly resolution "The Universal Declaration on Building a World Free of Nuclear Weapons", to be considered at the 76th UN GA session, expresses interest in expanding partnerships with other existing nuclear-weapon-free zones and supports efforts to create new nuclear-weapon-free zones in various regions of the world, including the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.

In conclusion of her statement the Permanent Representative called upon members of the forum to strengthen the Conference on Disarmament and demonstrate political will in order to start substantive work on core issues of disarmament.