The African Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone Treaty's entry into force last month established a ban on nuclear weapons throughout the entire southern hemisphere, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday (see GSN, Aug. 13).
The pact entered into force on July 15 following ratification by Burundi. Similar agreements are already in force in South America, Southeast Asia, the South Pacific and Antarctica.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei "welcomes the entry into force of the African Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba)," the agency said in a statement. "The African NWFZ, similar to other nuclear weapon free zones in Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, South Pacific and Central Asia, is an important regional confidence and security-building measure and would contribute to our efforts for a world free from nuclear weapons.
"The director general welcomes the treaty's support of the use of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes and trusts that the use of nuclear technologies in Africa would contribute to the continent´s economic and social development," says the release.
The agency urged 21 African states that have not yet completed U.N. nuclear inspection arrangements to "bring these agreements into force as soon as possible." The African nuclear prohibition demands that all states parties enter into such agreements (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Aug. 14).