The Honourable Mark Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation, signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at a Signing Ceremony, which coincided with the commemoration of the International Day of Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons held on 26th September 2019.
In accordance with General Assembly resolution 68/32 and subsequent related resolutions, the commemoration of the International Day aims to further the objective of completely eliminating nuclear weapons through enhancing public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination.
The TPNW is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.
In June 2019 in Georgetown, Guyana, CARICOM Countries participated in a Caribbean Regional Forum on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to take stock of the Treaty from a regional perspective, and to canvas progress for the early signature and ratification by all countries in the region.
Dominica, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago also signed the PNWT, and Trinidad and Tobago presented its instrument of ratification.
The brief signing ceremony at the UN Headquarters also featured presentations from the President of the UN General Assembly (PGA), the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the High Representative for Disarmament and the head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
