OPANAL Delegation Participated in a Conference on Cooperation between Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones

On 27-28 August 2024, a delegation from the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) participated in a conference on strengthening cooperation among nuclear-weapon-free zones, held in the capital of Kazakhstan.

The conference was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan jointly with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.

The main objective of the conference is to discuss measures to further deepen cooperation among nuclear-weapon-free zones and to interact with other UN disarmament platforms in order to strengthen the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime.

UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Akan Rakhmetullin, spoke at the opening ceremony.

The conference was attended by delegations from member countries and secretariats of other nuclear-weapon-free zones: Latin America, Africa, South-East Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Mongolia.  Delegations from the Nuclear P5 member countries, as well as international non-governmental and academic structures dealing with nuclear disarmament, and anti-nuclear activists participated as observers.

The conference is held on the occasion with the International Day against Nuclear Tests, commemorated in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution annually on August 29 – the day the Semipalatinsk test site was closed 33 years ago.

The OPANAL delegation also participated in a separate event on non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament with the International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (AFCONE).