Ninety-nine nations participate in UN treaty event during 2005 World Summit

Ninety-nine States plus the European Union took a total of 265 actions to approve international treaties concerning issues ranging from nuclear terrorism to migratory fish during the United Nations World Summit from 14-16 September, according to a UN summary released yesterday.

Fifty-two heads of State or Government among the 150 or so attending the Summit took part in the actions, responding to Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s yearly invitation at the opening of the General Assembly, since 2000, for States to sign, ratify or accede to international treaties, for which he is the depository.

Liberia alone accounted for a third of the actions this year, with the head of its transitional Government, Charles Gyude Bryant, submitting a record 103 treaty actions, 83 of which took immediate effect.

Other highlights included the Nuclear Terrorism Convention, which opened for signature at the Treaty Event and got 82 signatures, and the Convention against Corruption, which on Wednesday received enough ratifications to trigger its entry into force on 14 December.