Uganda
Uganda voted in favour of adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN Diplomatic Conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2024. Uganda maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1982) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2001) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | No (Signed 1996, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2006) | |
| AP with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2006) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1992) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2001) | |
| 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 (2024) |
| 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 (Modified) |
Latest developments
At a high-level UN event to mark the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uganda, Jeje Odongo Abubakhar, delivered a statement on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, which expressed hope that the TPNW ‘would contribute to furthering the agreed global objective of the total elimination of nuclear weapons’.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Zambia criticised nuclear-armed states for their reluctance ‘to fulfil their disarmament obligations’.2
In 2021, a private member’s motion urging the Ugandan government to sign and ratify the TPNW was submitted to the national parliament and referred to its foreign affairs committee for scrutiny. After consulting various stakeholders, the committee published a report on the matter in August 2023, which recommended that the executive branch of government study the TPNW and ‘make an appropriate decision’ on whether to sign and ratify it.3
Recommendations
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Uganda should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Uganda should ratify the Pelindaba nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) treaty, which it signed in 1996.