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 2024.
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 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 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 (Modified) |
Latest developments
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Cameroon said that ‘it is essential, for international peace and security, to continue consolidating the international nuclear non-proliferation regime’. It urged states ‘to halt the dangerous nuclear escalation that is taking place, to honour obligations under existing treaties, and to eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us’.1
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, the President of the UN General Assembly, Philemon Yang, who is a former Prime Minister of Cameroon, called on ‘those States which have not yet acceded to the [TPNW] to do so without delay’.2 (He was speaking in his UN capacity, not as a representative of Cameroon.)
Cameroon participated in the African Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the TPNW in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September 2024.3
Recommendations
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Cameroon should urgently adhere to the TPNW.