17 Feb 2012

VIENNA / CTBTO BAN

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other high-level dignitaries attended the 15th anniversary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) today in Vienna, with Ban reiterating his call to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force. CTBTO

Posted at: February 17, 2012 3:09 pm

Duration: 02:16

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: VIENNA / BAN
TRT: 2.16
SOURCE: CTBTO 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 FEBRUARY 2012, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

SHOTLIST:
1. Wide shot, motorcade of the UN Secretary General arrives at the Vienna International Centre
2. Med shot, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon leaves the motorcade to greet CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth and team
3. Med shot, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Tibor Tóth enter the Vienna International Centre 
4. Wide shot, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivering his speech
5.SOUNDBITE (English), Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General: 
"We have been waiting 15 years and it is in a sense irresponsible for the international community just to wait. I urge again all those so-called hold-out States, eight hold-out States, to sign and ratify as early as possible."
6. Cutaway, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English), Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"The CTBT has been quite effective in terms of monitoring and verification. They have detected all of these explosions of North Korean nuclear testing twice, and they have effectively detected and gave early warning to Fukushima at the time of the tsunami in Japan."
8. Cutaway, audience
9. SOUNDBITE (English), Tibor Tóth, CTBTO Executive Secretary:
"The family of the CTBT Member States has grown to 182, 157 of which have ratified the Treaty. The network has grown, station by station. It was in 2000, when, for the first time, a CTBT monitoring station was certified. By now, we have nearly 285, four-fifths of the system, and it is up and running around the globe, around the clock." 
10. Cutaway, audience in rotunda
11. SOUNDBITE (English), Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister, Sweden: 
"Another important value of the CTBT is the potential to reinforce other security and arms-control measures, such as the initiative to create a zone free of weapons of mass destructions in the Middle East." 
12. Wide shot, Bildt delivering his speech at podium

STORYLINE:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other high-level dignitaries today attended the 15th anniversary of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, Austria.

The Secretary General reiterated his call to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
 "We have been waiting 15 years and it is in a sense irresponsible for the international community just to wait. I urge again all those so-called hold-out States, eight hold-out States, to sign and ratify as early as possible."

Eight countries still must ratify the treaty before it can become global law. They are China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Israel, Iran, Pakistan and the United States.

Since the Treaty's initial adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996, nuclear testing has all but ceased. Today, the CTBTO's global verification regime monitors the dispersal of radioactivity worldwide.

SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"The CTBT has been quite effective in terms of monitoring and verification. They have detected the explosions of North Korean nuclear testing twice, and they effectively detected and gave early warning of Fukushima at the time of the tsunami in Japan."

The treaty bans all nuclear explosions and its monitoring system of 300 sensors is intended to detect any nuclear explosion anywhere on the planet when complete.

SOUNDBITE (English) Tibor Tóth, CTBTO Executive Secretary: 
"The family of CTBT Member States has grown to 182, 157 of which have ratified. The network has grown, station by station. 285 facilities, more than four-fifths of the system, are up and running. It was in 2000, when, for the first time, a CTBT monitoring station was certified. By now, we have nearly 285, four-fifths of the system, and it is up and running around the globe, around the clock."

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who also spoke at today's anniversary event, emphasized the importance of the CTBT in international peace and security.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister, Sweden: 
"Another important value of the CTBT is the potential to reinforce other security and arms control measures, such as the initiative to create a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East."

Also today, Mr. Ban opened the new Vienna office of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, saying its establishment is a response to the growing need for cooperation in all areas of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control.