In the picture Baron Willem van de Voorde addresses his colleagues the ambassadors of Uganda, Dr. Marcel Tibaleka, Kenya, Joseph Kipng’etich Magutt, Algeria, Nor-Eddine Aouam, Rwanda, Igor Cesar, Zimbabwe, Ruth Masodzi Chikwira, Cameroon, Jean-Marc Mpay. Picture by Royal Belgian Embassy to Germany
Thursday, May 23 2019, Royal Belgian Embassy to Germany, Berlin: HE Ambassador Baron Willem van de Voorde welcomed some thirty ambassadorial colleagues, and other diplomats from African countries to a conference about the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and its significance for the African continent. The Belgian Embassy took the initiative of the latter event within the framework of the Belgian co-presidency of the Article XIV Conference in order to facilitate the entry into force of the CTBT.
The keynote speaker at the conference was Dr. Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), and native of Burkina Faso. After recalling that 8 ratifications are still missing to allow the treaty to enter into force, including Egypt’s, Dr Zerbo called upon Africa to become more involved in the implementation of the treaty and, in general, to take its rightful place on the international scene. He stressed that by 2050, Africa will be the most populous continent in the world and that it must be prepared for the responsibilities that go hand-in-hand.
A lunch in honour of Dr. Zerbo was also on the agenda, in the presence of the heads of mission of Cameroon, HE Ambassador Jean-Marc Mpay and Burkina Faso, HE Ambassador Simplice Honoré Guibila as well as Mrs Susanne Baumann, Director General of the German Foreign Office for Multilateral Affairs, Disarmament and Arms Control. Later this year, Germany and Algeria shall succeed Belgium and Iraq as co-chairs of the Article XIV Conference.
For further information:
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: https://www.ctbto.org
Royal Belgian Embassy to Germany: https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/germany?fbclid=IwAR0QgLpg_btYFkf_NbCVqmpReJA-_ojtyGLVUD-PbnCcf5YLOVo9P1vEZsw
Photography by Royal Belgian Embassy to Germany.
