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Statement By Amb. Lazarus Amayo, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nation During the Third Session of Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the State Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Monday, 29 April 2019
Presenter: 
Amb. Lazarus O. Amayo
Location: 
New York

Statement by Amb.  Lazarus Amayo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya During the Third Session of Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the State Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

Mr Chairman,

My delegation congratulates you and other members of the bureau on your election to steer the third and final session of the preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear weapons (NPT). Kenya associates itself with the Statements delivered by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group and Venezuela on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

I assure you of Kenya’s support and cooperation in this multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiation process, and we look forward to fruitful deliberations and outcomes.

Kenya reaffirms its strong commitments to the NPT’s basic obligations to nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The NPT lies at the foundation of international peace and security and provides a sound rationale for strengthening international consensus towards a nuclear weapon’s free world. The NPT has served us well for over 40 years but more can be done.

Kenya also reaffirms its support for the total elimination of nuclear weapons as this is the only effective assurance against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. We take note, with appreciation the adoption of the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 7 July 2017 as a concrete step towards this objective. We reiterate our commitment to the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty (the Pelindhaba treaty)

Chairman,

My delegation recognizes the pivotal role played by the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) on the implementation of the NPT particularly on verifications. We call on member states to continue supporting the work of IAEA in ensuring professional and independent verification on nuclear related processes. We commend the current efforts by the IAEA in transferring knowledge and expertise through fellowships to nuclear experts and other capacity building projects and programmes.

Kenya believes that peaceful uses of nuclear technology can be beneficial to developing countries and in the realization of the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development. As such, we wish to recognize state parties’ to NPT inalienable rights to determine their energy needs and arrangements to meet those needs including through nuclear technologies. The IAEA can be an important partner in ensuring a non-discriminatory approach to nuclear fuel supply and that mutual trust and cooperation exist between suppliers and consumers.

Kenya has harnessed the benefits of nuclear energy in a wide variety of areas ranging from medical radiotherapy and nuclear medicine to agriculture. The country also had better water resource management through isotope hydrology. Kenya’s 2018 Nuclear Regulatory Bill provides for a comprehensive framework for the regulation of safe, secure, sustainable and peaceful utilization of atomic energy and nuclear technology within the IAEA Safeguards Agreements.

Chairman

Despite setbacks during the 2015 Prepcom, my delegation believes that the 2020 review conference gives us an excellent opportunity to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the major decisions made during the previous review conferences. We must address the shortcomings and challenges that we still face in the complex issue of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. We urge all parties to seriously engage in a frank and sincere dialogue during the thematic sessions in order to realize further progress towards global nuclear disarmament.

In conclusion, Kenya reiterates its conviction that a nuclear weapons free world is still feasible if we can collectively resolve to take bold and deliberate political decisions to move in that direction. We can indeed leave this world a better place than we found it.

 

I thank you