Astana, August 23: An international conference ‘Semipalatinsk: From Rehabilitation to Development’ will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan, on August 26. The conference seeks to highlight Kazakhstan’s cooperation with international organizations in overcoming the aftermath of almost 500 Soviet nuclear tests in the Semipalatinsk region.

The conference is timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the UN-designated International Day against Nuclear Tests on August 29.

Last year, the United Nations chose this date to celebrate the global effort to prevent nuclear tests from happening again. It coincides with the anniversary of shutting down in 1991 one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites at Semipalatinsk by a decree from Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The Central Asian nation’s historic decision was complemented within two years by the voluntary renunciation of the world’s fourth largest nuclear and missile arsenal and subsequent decommissioning and elimination of all nuclear weapons related infrastructure.

“These historic steps have clearly demonstrated to the international community our commitment to a world free of violence and the threat of war. Behind each of these historic landmarks are hundreds of thousands of lives of our people who have suffered to make a nuclear weapons-free choice for the entire nation a reality,” President Nazarbayev said in a message dedicated to the August 29 anniversary. “For the sake of a peaceful life for our children, the future inhabitants of our common planet, we have to act now.”

The Conference in Astana gathers prominent academics, scientists, international officials and diplomats, including Tibor Tóth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Werner Burkart, Deputy Director General of the IAEA, Miroslav Jenca, Head of UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia, Kori Udovički, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Europe and CIS, as well as Olzhas Suleimenov, the former leader of the “Nevada-Semey” popular anti-nuclear movement and currently Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to UNESCO.

Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev will open the conference with a speech and an address from President Nazarbayev.