The International Campaign to Abolition Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has reported today that the Central American country of El Salvador has become the 21st country to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which opened for signature in 2017 and is on course to become the fastest ratified disarmament treaty ever.

El Salvador joins Austria, the Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Gambia, Guyana, the Holy See, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Palestine, St Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Thailand, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Vietnam in depositing their instrument of ratification with the UN in New York.

In addition, a further 49 countries have signed the treaty and are in the process of ratification.