SGI Supports Caribbean Forum to Advance Nuclear Ban Treaty

On June 19 and 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana and ICAN, with the support of co-organizers including SGI, convened a Caribbean Regional Forum on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in Georgetown, Guyana. The forum was held to explore the role of the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in supporting the early entry into force of the TPNW and demonstrate its continued commitment to realizing a world without nuclear weapons.

The meeting brought together diplomats and experts from ten of the fifteen member states of CARICOM in a range of fields including infrastructure, nuclear disarmament and foreign policy, and enabled them to exchange ideas on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and the practicalities of supporting the treaty that bans them with civil society actors including the Red Cross and ICAN. As an outcome of the forum, the Georgetown Statement was adopted on June 20 which identified the need to deepen cooperation and collaboration among CARICOM member states on the issue.

Anna Ikeda from the Office for UN Affairs of SGI, acting also as an ICAN campaigner, supported the forum from the planning stage and also acted as moderator and speaker during the parts of the programs. In the session titled “TPNW and other disarmament mechanisms,” she stated that the TPNW complements and reinforces the NPT, filling a legal gap by outlawing nuclear weapons in the same way the international community has banned other weapons of mass destruction such as biological and chemical weapons.