Three months ago, the world marked the 75th Anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The memory of that morning of August 6, 1945 and the general devastating effects of nuclear weapons on humanity, biodiversity and the environment, reaffirm the global nuclear disarmament and the total elimination of nuclear weapons, are the absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.
The full implementation of international conventions and treaties aimed at achieving global nuclear disarmament, must, therefore, remain a priority for all our nations. Five decades after the 1968 Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), an alarming number of nuclear weapons are unfortunately still in existence.
We continue to witness an increasing nuclear rivalry, modernization of nuclear weapons including their delivery mechanisms; and weakening of inter-governmental arrangements aimed at curtailing nuclear arsenals and their ultimate elimination.
As a State Party to the African Nuclear-Weapons-Free-Zone Treaty (Pelindaba Treaty) and the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, we reiterate our longstanding commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons for a safer nuclear-free world.
As we approach the Tenth Review Conference of the NPT in 2021, we call for renewed momentum among all States to implement their disarmament commitments.
My delegation commends the progress made so far, particularly in the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones, the voluntary renunciation of nuclear weapon programmes and countries withdrawing nuclear weapons from their territories.
We, therefore, call for nuclear States to join in the universalization of the NPT treaty and to commit to complete nuclear disarmament. The prospect of total war with the certainty of mutually assured destruction, is not a credible stance for our civilisation in the 21st century.
In conclusion, as we commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, may it serve as a reminder that the use of nuclear weapons is reprehensible and cannot be justified and is against the basic tenets of humanity.
