UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the U.N.'s nuclear test ban treaty organization says that in his "wild dreams," very young children around the world will be taught that nuclear testing isn't good — and that the world should be free of nuclear weapons.
In an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Lassina Zerbo said he started a nine-member youth group three years ago with that aim. It has grown to 780 today, and they come from all over.
"Fortunately, we started before Greta Thunberg," he said, laughing, referring to the 16-year-old Swedish activist who has become the world's best-known campaigner against climate change. He said even very young children should be brought into the anti-nuclear campaign.
"In my wild dreams," Zerbo said Thursday, "we have to take kids when they start talking and then put in their mouth, in their brain, that nuclear testing isn't good, and that we want a world free of nuclear weapons."
Zerbo said more "innovative ways" are also needed to get the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or CTBT, to enter into force.
The General Assembly adopted the treaty in 1996. It has been signed by 184 countries and ratified by 168. But it cannot enter into force until it is ratified by eight countries that had nuclear-power reactors or research reactors in 1996 — the United States, China, Iran, Israel, Egypt, India, Pakistan and North Korea.
Zerbo expressed hope for "a conclusive outcome" to talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Any agreement, he said, "should include their signature and ratification" of the comprehensive test-ban treaty. "Because if they agree to a moratorium on nuclear testing, that could be the first step" toward implementation.
But at the moment, Zerbo said, asking North Korea to be an observer to the treaty could be a step to building trust to bring them to the negotiating table.
While Pakistan hasn't signed the treaty, Zerbo said, it is an observer at the organization. That's "a small step," he says, "but it's an important step in the overall framework for us to reach the entry into force."
India, Pakistan's neighbor and nuclear-armed rival, isn't an observer, though the treaty organization is working on it.
While waiting for the treaty to take effect, the organization has spent more than $1 billion on a sophisticated international monitoring system that can detect nuclear tests.