Fijian Prime Minister, Honourable Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama in his capacity as the Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), called on World Leaders to advance the United Nation’s mandate to create a “Nuclear Free World.”

Delivering a statement today on behalf of PSIDS at the “Commemoration and Promotion of International Day against Nuclear Explosions,” an event hosted by the President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, His Excellency Volkan Bozkir, at the margins of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 75).

PM Bainimarama said that PSIDS has suffered the impacts of the nuclear testing in the region, with more than 300 nuclear tests that were carried out in the Pacific from 1946 to 1996—in the atmosphere, underground and underwater.

“Our communities living close to ‘ground zero’ were relocated from their ancestral islands and restricted from using the ocean resources for their livelihoods, and they faced an increase in related health problems. At the end of these nuclear tests, radio-active waste and machinery were either buried or dumped into the Pacific Ocean,” PM Bainimarama said.

Prime Minister conveyed PSIDS tribute to the foresight and efforts of the region’s Leaders, civil society and people who have strived to establish a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, and finally put an end to nuclear testing in parts of the Pacific Ocean.

PM Bainimarama said that “Nuclear Free” is an important factor in achieving the PSIDS vision on Blue Pacific Ocean’s prosperity and its commitment to advancing SDGs. He said that being nuclear free was an intrinsic element of the Blue Pacific.

“We, the Pacific Community, consider ourselves the custodians of the vast blue Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean defines who we are; it serves as the foundation of our economies, our environment, and the well- being of our communities. We have a vision that the blue Pacific Ocean will become an ocean of peace and prosperity for our people and the world.

“Protecting the blue Pacific is of paramount importance to our future. It can only become an ocean of peace if it is nuclear-free. The same goes for the wider world”.

“The 2030 SDGs are of huge importance to our communities, to “leaving no one behind.” Protecting the environment and promoting prosperity are crucial pillars of the SDGs. A Pacific Ocean threatened or contaminated by nuclear waste and explosions impedes any progress towards achieving the SDGs.

“In 2018 our Leaders established the Boe Declaration on regional security, “recognising that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific,” PM Bainimarama told the UN officials.

PSIDS underpinned on the importance of “Multilateralism” to pursuing UN’s shared commitment on a world free of nuclear weapons.

“The world does not need nuclear weapons. The challenges of nuclear disarmament can only be resolved by a strengthened multilateral system that sets the conditions for transparency, confidence-building and co-operation. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) are crucial if we are to further the objective of reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons.

“Today, we PSIDSs say no to nuclear weapons, and we reiterate our commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere. We encourage member states to ratify the CTBT and the TPNW. It is morally right, and we owe it to ourselves and our future generations,” PM Bainimarama emphasised to the UN officials.