Geneva, August 28, 2017 .Counselor Claudia Pérez Alvarez of the Permanent Mission of Cuba in Geneva spoke today at the Conference on Disarmament on behalf of the Group of 21 member countries of the Conference.
The diplomat referred to the follow-up to the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament in 2013, which was an important step forward in consolidating the initiative to convene for the first time in the history of the Organization, a United Nations High Level International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament to review the progress made in this respect, to be held no later than 2018.
Perez Alvarez stressed that for the G-21 countries the commemoration of the "International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons" is very important every September 26.
The diplomat called for a guarantee that mankind will never again suffer the terrible impact of nuclear weapons, through its ban and total elimination, and on behalf of the G-21, reaffirmed that nuclear disarmament is and should continue to be the highest priority in the field of disarmament.
Perez Alvarez recalled that the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held in Havana in January 2014, formally proclaimed the Latin American and Caribbean region as a Zone of Peace. In that sense, she said that the Proclamation emphasizes the firm commitment of the CELAC countries to the promotion of nuclear disarmament as a priority goal.
Regarding the recent adoption of the Nuclear Arms Prohibition Treaty in the United Nations, the diplomat mentioned that the Group of 21 countries hoped that the instrument could contribute to nuclear disarmament towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to Geneva