Antigua and Barbuda

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

26 September 2018

RATIFIED

25 November 2019

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

Status

Antigua and Barbuda 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

E. P. Chet Greene, the minister of foreign affairs of Antigua and Barbuda, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York on 26 September 2018.

Walton Webson, the permanent representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 25 November 2019.

Antigua and Barbuda was the 34th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

E. P. Chet Greene, the minister of foreign affairs of Antigua and Barbuda, signs the TPNW in 2018. Photo: ICAN

Walton Webson, the permanent representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: UNOLA

National position

Antigua and Barbuda welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021 and has pledged its full commitment to the treaty’s implementation.

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Antigua and Barbuda submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 19 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, Antigua and Barbuda 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”.

Antigua and Barbuda said in 2020 that it was proud to have ratified the TPNW and would “continue to urge all [UN] member states to do the same”.

Meetings of states parties

Antigua and Barbuda welcomed the convening of the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022 and participated in the second meeting in 2023.

TPNW negotiations

Antigua and Barbuda 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, Antigua and Barbuda voted in favour of 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”.

Before the negotiations

Antigua and Barbuda 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.

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor