Ghana has renewed calls for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, urging African states and the international community to reject weapons of mass destruction and strengthen cooperation toward a nuclear-weapon-free world.
The call was made on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, when Ghana hosted the West and Central African Regional Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in Accra.
The conference, jointly organised by the Governments of Ghana and Austria, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), brought together government officials, regional bodies, civil society groups and international partners.
Opening the conference, Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Khadija Iddrisu, stressed that sustainable global security cannot be achieved through nuclear weapons.
“Sustainable security cannot be built on weapons of mass destruction but on cooperation and respect for human life,” she said, warning that rising geopolitical tensions have heightened the risks posed by nuclear arms.
Ambassador Iddrisu reaffirmed Ghana’s long-standing commitment to nuclear disarmament, recalling the stance of the country’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who warned that nuclear weapons represented “the greatest threat to the survival of mankind.”
She noted that Ghana’s unanimous parliamentary ratification of the TPNW in June 2025 reaffirmed the country’s moral leadership at a time of growing global insecurity.
“The prohibition of nuclear weapons is not only a legal obligation, but a moral imperative owed to future generations,” she said.
The conference featured four thematic sessions focusing on Africa’s security concerns, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, obligations under the TPNW, and pathways to universalisation ahead of the Treaty’s First Review Conference later in 2026, to be held under South Africa’s presidency.
Participants, including officials from the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), ECOWAS, the African Union, security institutions, academia, and civil society, highlighted the catastrophic humanitarian, environmental, and developmental impact of nuclear weapons.
Delivering remarks on behalf of partner states, Deputy Head of Mission of the Austrian Embassy in Ghana, Sandra Gintsberger, urged African countries to intensify efforts toward universal adherence to the Treaty.
“Nuclear weapons do not provide sustainable security. They represent an existential risk to humanity,” she said, stressing that broader ratification would strengthen the Treaty’s impact.
In his closing remarks, Acting Coordinating Director for Multilateral and International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Francis D. Kotia, reaffirmed Ghana’s leadership in global disarmament efforts.
He recalled President Nkrumah’s warning to the United Nations that nuclear weapons amounted to “a policy of genocide for the African people,” and urged West and Central African states to translate shared commitments into concrete national and regional action.
The conference ended with a renewed pledge by participants to strengthen collaboration, support national implementation processes and advance the universalisation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a cornerstone of global peace and security.
