The inaugural International Day against Nuclear Tests will be commemorated on 29 August.
The Day, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly last year, will serve to galvanise UN, government and NGO efforts to ban nuclear tests as a step towards a world free of nuclear weapons, which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has termed ""a global public good of the highest order"".
There has been a flurry of activity ahead of the International Day: states are gearing up for the 22nd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues, due to be held in Japan on 25-7 August 2010.
The Conference will assess the outcome of the 2010 Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference and discuss ways to make progress in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and in promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
A key focus will be the role of civil society and education in advancing disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation.
Elsewhere, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, began a visit to Israel on 23 August, in what is seen as a bid to improve relations between Israel and the UN 's nuclear watchdog.
