UNifeed: UN / CTBT

UN / CTBT

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tells a high-level gathering to facilitate the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that "we're happy to be back working with you". She vowed to work towards US ratification of the treaty, which was signed by former US President Bill Clinton thirteen years ago today. UNTV / FILE

Duration:03:02Date:24 September 2009

Categories:

United Nations Television, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, NUCLEAR SCIENCE

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Full Script

STORY: UN / CTBT WRAP
TRT: 3.02
SOURCE: UNTV / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 24 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – UNTV – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters

24 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shaking hands with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at opening of conference
3. Med shot, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Douglas, United Nations Messenger of Peace:
“Now that leaders have made clear their understanding of the risks, and stated forcefully the value of eliminating them, we must rally together to make these aspirations a reality.” 
5. Med shot, audience
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Bernard Kouchner, Foreign Minister of France:
“May I take it that the conference now would like to adopt the final declaration, the draft. I see no objections, it is so decided, and I will use the gavel now to show my power – there it is. Thank you very much.” [applause]
7. Wide shot, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri , United Nations Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas, and UN Under-Secretary-General Sergio Duarte walking up to the microphone at media stakeout
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“We have only nine states left whose ratification is essential for the entry into force for this very important treaty.”
9. Pan right, camerapeople 
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Taieb Fassi-Fihri, Foreign Minister of Morocco:
“We are very satisfied with the result during the last two years, and we will continue to work very hard to convince others to join us.”
11. Wide shot, audience at CTBT conference
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State:
“We believe the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is an integral part of the non-proliferation and arms control agenda, and the President will work in the months ahead both to seek the advice and consent of the United States Senate to ratify the treaty and to secure ratification by others, so the treaty can finally enter into force.”

FILE – 24 SEPTEMBER 1996, NEW YORK CITY

13. Zoom in, US President Bill Clinton signing the CTBT

24 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State:
“We re-dedicate ourselves to this effort, and we thank all of you who have continued the hard work over the last ten years. We’re happy to be back working with you.”
15. Med shot, audience applauding
16. SOUNDBITE (English) John Silk, Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands:
“The use and testing of nuclear weapons has created a burden, a legacy of impacts which have lasted generations.”
17. Wide shot, audience

STORYLINE:

A ministerial conference at UN headquarters in New York today (24 September) pressed nine countries which have yet to ratify the global pact outlawing all nuclear explosions worldwide to do so.

At the opening of a two-day conference to promote the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Academy Award-winning actor and United Nations Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas called on leaders who have begun speaking out in favor of a world free of nuclear weapons to “rally together to make these aspirations a reality”.

The conference, co-chaired by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri, proceeded to adopt a declaration urging the remaining states to ratify the nuclear test ban treaty, which the UN Secretary-General has characterized as the “fundamental building block” for ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

To date, CTBT has 181 signatories and the number of ratifications has reached 150, thanks to yesterday’s action by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Speaking to reporters after the opening of the conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that to enter into force, ratifications by nine countries are needed: China, Egypt, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.

Conference co-chair Taieb Fassi-Fihri said that he was “very satisfied” with developments over the last two years, and that work would continue to convince countries to join the CTBT.

Today’s event, the sixth such conference to facilitate the CTBT’s entry into force, marked the first time in a decade that the United States has participated.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told foreign ministers gathered at the meeting that her country believed the CTBT was “an integral part of the non-proliferation and arms control agenda”, and that President Barack Obama would work to “seek the advice and consent of the United States Senate to ratify the treaty”, though she acknowledged this would not be easy. He would also work to secure ratification by others.

The CTBT was signed thirteen years ago today by Clinton's husband, then-President Bill Clinton, and other global leaders. The treaty was rejected in the US Senate three years later.

Also addressing today’s conference, the Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands spoke about his country’s first-hand experience with nuclear tests and called for compensation to address the consequences still affecting his land and people, decades after dozens of nuclear test explosions were carried out in the Marshall Islands in the 1940s and 50s.

“The use and testing of nuclear weapons has created a burden, a legacy of impacts which have lasted generations”, he said.

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