Sierra Leone

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

SIGNED

22 September 2022

RATIFIED

24 September 2024

IN FORCE

23 December 2024

Status

Sierra Leone has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and has been legally bound by it since 23 December 2024.

Signature and ratification

David J. Francis, the then-minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation of Sierra Leone, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York on 22 September 2022.

His successor, Timothy Musa Kabba, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general at a high-level ceremony in New York on 24 September 2024, following approval by the national parliament earlier in the year.

Sierra Leone was the equal 71st state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

David J. Francis, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Sierra Leone, signs the TPNW in 2022. Photo: Darren Ornitz

Timothy Musa Kabba, the minister of foreign affairs of Sierra Leone, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2024. Photo: Derek French

National position

In 2024, welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force and the “steady progress” being made on its implementation and universalisation.

“It is time to take a new and comprehensive approach toward nuclear disarmament,” it said. “We believe that the TPNW serves as a complementary instrument to the [Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968] and will end the long impasse in multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations.”

It pledged to “continue to uphold global norms in disarmament strategies and urge regional efforts to ratify the TPNW”.

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Sierra Leone submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 22 January 2025 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.

As required by Article 3, Sierra Leone has a comprehensive safeguards agreement in force with the International Atomic Energy Agency to guard against the misuse of nuclear facilities and materials. It also has an additional protocol in force.

Per Article 12, Sierra Leone 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”.

In 2022, Sierra Leone called on all UN member states that have not done so to sign and ratify the TPNW, stressing the “urgent need to make concrete and systematic progress towards this end”.

ICAN discusses the TPNW with Anthony Brewah, Sierra Leone’s attorney-general and minister of justice, in Geneva in 2021. Photo: Sierra Leone MFA

Meetings of states parties

Sierra Leone observed the second meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2023. Having become a state party to the treaty on 23 December 2024, it participated fully in the third meeting in 2025.

TPNW negotiations

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.

In 2016, Sierra Leone 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”.

Before the negotiations

Sierra Leone 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

Sierra Leone

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

Status

Signature and ratification

National position

Implementation

Meetings of states parties

TPNW negotiations

Before the negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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