At the just ended African Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in Addis Ababa, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), Mrs Theodora Williams Anti, called on African states to join the the Nuclear weapon Ban Treaty. She made the call whilst delivering an overview of the current status of the TPNW, focused on adherence to the treaty by African States and the support ICAN can provide to African States in achieving the treaty’s goal.

Regional Efforts Towards Universalisation :

In her delivery, Mrs Anti highlighted efforts made in the region to promote the universalization of the TPNW:

●        In March 2022, the African Union Commission convened its first expert-level meeting to promote universalisation of the TPNW in Africa.

●        In January 2023 South Affrica in it’s capacity as co-facilitator of the Working Group on Universalisation of the TPNW in partnership with ICAN and ICRC convened an African Regional Seminar on the Universalisation of the TPNW in Pretoria.

These efforts reflect Africa’s commitment to ensuring that the region achieve a universalization of the treaty

ICAN’s Support in Africa

In her statement, Mrs.Theodora Williams Anti highlighted support provided by ICAN, which works in collaboration with NGOs like FOSDA to ensure the universalisation of the TPNW in Africa. She pointed to several key activities spearheaded by ICAN across the continent:

• ICAN is a coalition of over 700 non-governmental organizations in 110 countries, including many African states. We are eager to see greater adherence to the TPNW in this region and beyond, and we are available to assist states in whatever way might be helpful.

• ICAN staff and partners, like the ICRC, which has co-organized this conference, and like the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), ready to provide support, share documents, briefing papers, engage with different stakeholders in the process.

• ICAN partner organisations worked with the Defense Ministry of Zambia to organise a workshop to support the process of ratification.
  
  
• In addition to the African Regional Seminar in Pretoria, ICAN supported the Ministry of Justice of Mozambique to convene a workshop with government representatives and parliamentarians, and we similarly participated in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya with an interministerial meeting. We also held a parliamentary forum in Senegal and meetings about the TPNW with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Parliament and other stakeholders in Eswatini, Ethiopia, Liberia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and a dozen of other African states.

• Meetings with representatives of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, the African Commission on Nuclear Energy, the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Parliament of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

These engagements are crucial in advancing the domestic processes needed for African nations to sign and ratify the TPNW.

In her conclusion remarks, Mrs Theodora Williams Anti, urged African Leaders to do everything in their power to advance their country’s ratification of the Treaty as a matter of urgency especially considering the current violent conflict situations across the world.