Executive Director Jaewon Choi met Secretary-General Juan Carlos Ojeda Viglione of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), congratulating him on his election and discussing closer cooperation between the two institutions.
OPANAL is the intergovernmental agency created under the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which established the world's first nuclear-weapon-free zone in a densely populated region. From its headquarters in Mexico City, the Agency oversees the implementation of the treaty on behalf of the states of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mr. Choi opened the meeting, held by videoconference, by congratulating Mr. Ojeda Viglione on his election as Secretary-General and wishing him well for his term at the head of the Agency. He was joined by Ms. Shanna Melamed of the Foundation's Secretariat, with the OPANAL Secretariat also taking part.
The conversation focused on constructive collaboration between the two institutions on youth engagement. Both sides discussed how young people across Latin America and the Caribbean could be brought closer to the Agency's work on disarmament and non-proliferation, drawing on the Foundation's programmes and its membership in the region.
The two institutions also discussed strengthening OPANAL's engagement with the United Nations. The Foundation presented its proposal for a permanent observer mission for OPANAL, prepared by the Secretariat in 2026, which sets out how the Agency's standing presence at the United Nations could be organised and how the Foundation could support it in practice.
Both sides agreed to remain in contact as the proposal is considered and to explore further opportunities for cooperation over the course of the new term.
Bilateral meetings such as this one are conducted by the Office of the Executive Director and the Foundation's observer offices, which maintain working relationships with member states, intergovernmental organisations and civil society partners.
The full texts of related statements, submissions and reports are available in the documents library on the Publications page, where they can be filtered by category and year.
This article is part of the Foundation’s public record of its engagements and programmes.
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