In 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 29 August the ‘International Day against Nuclear Tests’ through the unanimous adoption of a resolution to that effect.
The resolution’s adoption also commemorated the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan in 1991.
In his message, Mr. Ban asked the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the Assembly.
To date, 183 countries have signed the treaty and 164 have ratified CTBT.
For the treaty to enter into force, ratification is required from the so-called Annex 2 States.
Of these, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States, have yet to ratify it.