The States Parties to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (“Rarotonga Treaty”) convened  their first ever meeting on Tuesday 15 December 2020.  The meeting was in response to the call by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders at their 50th Meeting, held in Tuvalu in 2019, to operationalise the provisions of the Treaty.

Following its adoption at the 16th Forum Leaders meeting in the Cook Islands, the Treaty was only the second of its kind—today there are five such regional nuclear free zones covering 116 nations.

For further insight into the Meeting of Parties held earlier this week, see https://www.forumsec.org/2020/12/15/towards-a-fully-nuclear-free-blue-pacific-forum-sg-at-rarotonga-treaty-meeting/

For further insight into the Rarotonga Treaty including the Treaty text, see https://www.forumsec.org/treaty-collection/

MFAI media release on the Cook Islands becoming Party to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons see https://www.facebook.com/mfaicookislands/posts/1083989601767279

For insight into the Cook Islands 1995 participation in protest campaign against nuclear testing on the French Polynesian island of Mururoa, read Cook Islands News coverage at https://www.cookislandsnews.com/weekend/remembering-turbulent-times-in-pacific-history/