CTBTO head wins "Arms Control Person of the Year" vote
CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo has been voted the "2013 Arms Control Person of the Year" in a vote organized by the Arms Control Association (ACA).
According to the ACA, Zerbo had been nominated "for helping to persuade China to provide data from its International Monitoring System stations to the International Data Centre in Vienna and for providing real-time data regarding North Korea's third nuclear test explosion."
“I am deeply honoured and humbled by this distinction," Zerbo said. "China’s forthcoming cooperation in providing IMS data is indeed an important step forward and an example for others who host stations not sending data, such as Iran, to follow. The credit for providing swift, reliable and precise data on the announced nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in February 2013 goes to the amazing staff of the CTBTO who have been working tirelessly and with utmost dedication. I would also like to commend the Arms Control Association for their excellent work in promoting the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in the United States and around the world.”
Zerbo's first trip after taking office in August 2013 had been to China.