Belize has become the 81st state to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Ban Treaty, after doing so earlier this month.
The Ban Treaty was negotiated by the United Nations in 2017 and was supported by more than 120 states. Belize was one of the states which took part in the negotiations and voted in favour of the Treaty. The Treaty will enter in to force when 50 states complete the ratification process, so far 35 have done so.
Belize is the 10th member of the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, to sign the treaty, after Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In June 2019, 10 Caribbean countries participated in a forum in Georgetown, Guyana, to discuss the need for concerted regional efforts to promote swift entry into force of the treaty. They described this as “a vital step towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons”.
Christian CND will be visiting diplomats from states that have signed, but not yet ratified the Treaty as part of our Embassies Walk on Tuesday 31 March.
