By sallieu s kanu
Global support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) continues to grow, with Indonesia, Sierra Leone and the Solomon Islands ratifying the landmark agreement at a high-level ceremony in New York on Tuesday (24 September). There are now 73 state parties and a further 25 signatories. Indonesia becomes the largest state party by population.
The ceremony was held two days after the international community adopted the Pact for the Future, which included a commitment to advance the goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons. “A nuclear war would visit devastation upon all humankind and we must make every effort to avert the danger of such a war,” UN member states agreed.
Sierra Leone’s ratification
Sierra Leone is the 17th African state to ratify the TPNW. Timothy Musa Kabba, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation of Sierra Leone, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification at the high-level ceremony in New York.
Sierra Leone has expressed hope that the TPNW will “end the long impasse” in multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations “to achieve the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
“It is more important now than ever that world leaders speak out against nuclear weapons, and work together to strengthen international legal norms against their development, retention, use and threat of use by any state.”
The parliament of Sierra Leone approved ratification of the TPNW earlier this year.
Abdul M Fatoma, the chief executive of the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International, an ICAN partner organisation in Sierra Leone, congratulated the government on its action.
“Sierra Leone’s ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an important contribution to peace and sustainable development,” he said. “Nuclear weapons threaten our fundamental human rights and contribute to global instability.”
Sierra Leone participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.