Cameroon
Cameroon maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct. It voted in favour of the 2018 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW but has not participated in any of the more recent votes on the same resolution, including in 2025.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1969) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2006) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2010, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2004) | |
| AP with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2016) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2013) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| Test | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2018) |
| 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) | Did not vote |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Did not vote |
| 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 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cameroon, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, noted that ‘the global security environment remains unfortunately marked by a multiplication of conflicts and threats of all kinds to human security, including the nuclear threat that we thought belonged to another era’.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2025, Cameroon expressed concern that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) ‘is now weakened by unacceptable contradictions’. ‘The repeated failure of review conferences to produce concrete results demonstrates a crisis of confidence that undermines the entire regime and shakes its credibility,’ it said.2
Recommendations
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Cameroon should urgently adhere to the TPNW.