CTBTO's Executive Secretary Emphasizes G77 Active Engagement with CTBT Issues

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of the G77’s contribution to the deepening of multilateralism at this moment in history when the future of multilateralism is at stake,” stated Tibor Tóth, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), while attending the Group of 77 (G77) Chairmanship turnover ceremony in Vienna on 26 January 2010. Tóth congratulated Ambassador Eugenio Maria Curia of Argentina for his achievements and went on to wish Ambassador Taous Feroukhi of Algeria every success during her Chairmanship.

The G77 was established in June 1964 through a joint declaration setting out its members’ common objectives and has since expanded to 130 countries, making up the vast majority of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The Group’s institutional structure encompasses seven chapters in New York, Geneva, Nairobi, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Washington. The work of the G77 is coordinated by a Chairperson, who provides support for the preparation of meetings and serves as its institutional memory.

Founding members of G77 in dark green (except those that have since left). Current member countries in dark and medium green. Former member countries in light green. Updated March 28, 2008.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear test explosions. It has been ratified by 151 States and signed by 182. The Treaty has already been signed by 121 of the G77 Member States and ratified by 94. Employing four different technologies, the CTBTO is putting in place 337 facilities to monitor the planet from the poles to the tropics for evidence of nuclear testing.  Of the 250 facilities already in place, around 100 are located in G77 countries. All of the CTBT’s Member States have access to the vast body of data produced by the Treaty’s International Monitoring System. Over 50 percent of the users of CTBTO raw data and data bulletins are G77 countries. The CTBTO also offers Member States training courses and workshops on different aspects of CTBT verification, working with numerous States to strengthen their national scientific capabilities.

“We in the […] CTBTO are grateful for the Group’s active engagement with CTBT issues. We shall continue to do so as we progress, in partnership, towards entry into force,” stressed Tóth. “This is a moment when we must do our utmost to search for common solutions to our common problems in a multilateral framework.”