Kazakhstan and Kiribati Plan to Establish Fund for Nuclear Test Victims

Kazakhstan and Kiribati have proposed the creation of a fund to support victims of nuclear tests, aiming to establish it by mid-2026, Orda.kz reports, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The proposal was introduced at the third conference of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), held at UN headquarters.

The initiative's full title is the "Fund for Assistance to Victims and Environmental Rehabilitation of Contaminated Territories." According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, work on its establishment is expected to take approximately a year and a half.

The delegations approved the idea of creating a fund and agreed to finalize its financial, administrative, and organizational framework by mid-2026 to create the fund during the TPNW review conference in 2026, the Ministry’s press service stated.

Kazakhstan's involvement in the initiative is clear, given its history of nuclear testing at the Semipalatinsk Test Site during the Soviet era.

However, Kiribati—a small Pacific island nation with a population of 115,000—also has a tragic nuclear past. The country was a site for British nuclear tests in the late 1950s, leaving long-term environmental and health consequences for its people.

This initiative comes amid a shifting global stance on nuclear policy. Late last year, both the United States and Russia reassessed their approaches to nuclear weapons use, further underscoring the ongoing relevance of nuclear disarmament efforts.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin