Donate
Samoa
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
 |
 |
 |
|
SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
26 September 2018 |
IN FORCE
22 January 2021 |
Status
Samoa has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.
Signature and ratification
Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi, the then-prime minister of Samoa, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017. He deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 26 September 2018.
In an address to the United Nations following the signing ceremony, Tuila’epa said that Samoa had signed the treaty because “we wanted to demonstrate unequivocally our aspiration to have a world without nuclear weapons”.
He added that “[t]he conventional narrative that the possession of nuclear weapons will act as [a] deterrent to make the world a safer place to live is not borne out by the current realities” – referring in particular to tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Samoa was the equal 16th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi, the then-prime minister of Samoa, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN
Tuila’epa deposits the instrument of ratification in 2018. Photo: ICAN
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Samoa submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 23 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Samoa has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
Samoa has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.
In a statement to the United Nations in 2019, Tuila’epa said that “each new signature and ratification of the treaty ban will strengthen global norms against these weapons of terror and move us closer to a nuclear-weapon-free world”.
In September 2021, Samoa welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force, describing its participation in the treaty’s creation as “uplifting and empowering”.
Members of the Samoan Umbrella for Non-Governmental Organisations discuss the TPNW in the Samoan capital, Apia, in 2018. Photo: ICAN
Meetings of states parties
Samoa participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. “At this important meeting, we must commit to concrete actions to implement, to the fullest extent possible, our obligations as states parties to the TPNW,” it said.
“For its part, the Pacific is only too well aware of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear detonation as a result of its own experience, with over 300 nuclear weapon tests carried out over many years in our region,” it said, noting the ongoing harm.
TPNW negotiations
Samoa 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.
In 2016, Samoa co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Dominic Misiolo Sofe, a member of the Samoan delegation, speaks at a side event during the TPNW negotiations in June 2017. Photo: ICAN
Before the negotiations
Samoa was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.
Samoa, together with Fiji, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu, submitted a working paper to a UN working group in Geneva in 2016 in which it argued that “the debate should no longer be about whether a global ban on nuclear weapons is necessary, but rather how we can achieve it and what provisions it should contain”.
The five Pacific island states commented that the lived experience of nuclear weapons in the Pacific, where more than 300 atomic and hydrogen bombs were tested, has motivated them to work for a treaty-based ban.
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
[HIGHLIGHTS]
|
|
|
|
SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
26 September 2018 |
IN FORCE
22 January 2021 |
Status
Samoa has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.
Signature and ratification
Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi, the then-prime minister of Samoa, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017. He deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 26 September 2018.
In an address to the United Nations following the signing ceremony, Tuila’epa said that Samoa had signed the treaty because “we wanted to demonstrate unequivocally our aspiration to have a world without nuclear weapons”.
He added that “[t]he conventional narrative that the possession of nuclear weapons will act as [a] deterrent to make the world a safer place to live is not borne out by the current realities” – referring in particular to tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Samoa was the equal 16th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi, the then-prime minister of Samoa, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN
Tuila’epa deposits the instrument of ratification in 2018. Photo: ICAN
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Samoa submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 23 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Samoa has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
Samoa has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.
In a statement to the United Nations in 2019, Tuila’epa said that “each new signature and ratification of the treaty ban will strengthen global norms against these weapons of terror and move us closer to a nuclear-weapon-free world”.
In September 2021, Samoa welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force, describing its participation in the treaty’s creation as “uplifting and empowering”.
Members of the Samoan Umbrella for Non-Governmental Organisations discuss the TPNW in the Samoan capital, Apia, in 2018. Photo: ICAN
Meetings of states parties
Samoa participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. “At this important meeting, we must commit to concrete actions to implement, to the fullest extent possible, our obligations as states parties to the TPNW,” it said.
“For its part, the Pacific is only too well aware of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear detonation as a result of its own experience, with over 300 nuclear weapon tests carried out over many years in our region,” it said, noting the ongoing harm.
TPNW negotiations
Samoa 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.
In 2016, Samoa co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Dominic Misiolo Sofe, a member of the Samoan delegation, speaks at a side event during the TPNW negotiations in June 2017. Photo: ICAN
Before the negotiations
Samoa was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.
Samoa, together with Fiji, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu, submitted a working paper to a UN working group in Geneva in 2016 in which it argued that “the debate should no longer be about whether a global ban on nuclear weapons is necessary, but rather how we can achieve it and what provisions it should contain”.
The five Pacific island states commented that the lived experience of nuclear weapons in the Pacific, where more than 300 atomic and hydrogen bombs were tested, has motivated them to work for a treaty-based ban.
[PARTNERS]
[LOCALSUPPORT]
No events yet