Sierra Leone
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, David J. Francis, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony at the UN in New York on 22 September 2022. On 31 October, Sierra Leone also signed an Additional Protocol with the IAEA.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | 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 (2022) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| 1MSP 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 |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No (Signed 1996, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1975) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2001) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1976) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2004) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Original) |
| Additional Protocol | No (Signed 2022) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, Sierra Leone welcomed the adoption and entry into force of the TPNW, which it said ‘serves as a complementary instrument to the [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] and will end the long impasse in multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations’. Sierra Leone also noted that it was ‘an active participant’ in the negotiations on the TPNW in 2017 and has continued ‘to support the Treaty at every given opportunity’, including with its recent signature. ‘We call on all member states who have not done so to sign and ratify the TPNW. There is an urgent need to make concrete and systematic progress towards this end,’ said the statement.1
Sierra Leone was one of the co-sponsors for the 2022 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which 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.'2
Recommendations
- Sierra Leone should urgently ratify the TPNW.
- Sierra Leone should bring into force its Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and upgrade to a Modified Small Quantities Protocol.