Bahamas
The Bahamas is currently examining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) with a view to ratifying it. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bahamas, Frederick Audley Mitchell, signed the Treaty at a high-level ceremony in New York on 19 September 2023.1
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No (Signed 2023) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1976) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2007) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1977, Tlatelolco) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1997) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1986) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2009) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2025) |
| Participated in 3MSP (2025) | No |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | Yes (Revised) |
Latest developments
In the general debate of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, warned: ‘The atomic weapons of the 1940s have proliferated into the nuclear weapons of today, able to wipe out all human life many times over.’2
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2025, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which the Bahamas is a member State, reaffirmed its support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), emphasizing that the First Review Conference in 2026 offers a ‘crucial opportunity to strengthen norms against these weapons and to accelerate the momentum toward their elimination’.3
In a separate statement to the Committee, CARICOM hailed the TPNW as ‘a landmark achievement that reinforces and complements the international legal framework for nuclear disarmament’ and ‘embodies the collective moral, legal, and humanitarian imperative to eliminate these weapons once and for all’. It urged all States that have not yet joined the Treaty to do so ‘without delay’.4
The Bahamas co-sponsored the 2025 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve, or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.5
Recommendations
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The Bahamas should urgently ratify the TPNW.
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The Bahamas should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).