Thanks to the courage of the 50 governments that have ratified the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and the sustained work of organizations and activists, who have been fighting to make this possible.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which brings together more than 500 organisations, including our agency, Pressenza, has been fundamental in promoting the Treaty.

The TPNW will enter into force on the 22nd January 2021.

On the 24rd October 2020, Honduras joined 49 other countries that have now ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, triggering the condition for it to enter into force in 90 days’ time.

Speaking to Pressenza, Carlos Umaña – a member of ICAN’s international steering committee and IPPNW’s regional vice-president for Latin America – said with emotion: “Today is a historic day, which marks a milestone in international law in favour of nuclear disarmament. With the fiftieth ratification, the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty is activated and in three months, when it officially enters into force, the ban will be international law. This marks the beginning of a new era, one in which nuclear weapons are finally banned, in which the regulations condemning them are built and strengthened, displacing nuclear hegemony and bringing down the toxic rhetoric that forces us to live every day under this great existential threat. Today, life, cooperation, the principle of law and common sense triumph over a culture of death, threats and impositions. Today is a day for hope.”

The TPNW was approved by the UN on 7 July 2017 with 122 countries voting in favour.

All this has been possible despite the lack of support from nuclear-armed countries or NATO members (without any legal justification from the latter) and by resisting the huge pressure that the US has put on some governments in recent days not to ratify.

ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting the TPNW.

We would like to congratulate all the organisations, groups and activists who have worked and continue to work so that Humanity and the planet may begin to walk the path that will lead us to the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Countries that have ratified the TPNW

Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, The Gambia, Guyana, Holy See, Honduras, Ireland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Niue, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam