Geneva, 14 March 2025 – The President of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention has welcomed the ratification of the treaty by the Republic of the Marshall Islands, making this Pacific nation the 165th member of this landmark humanitarian disarmament instrument. 

“We welcome the great news that the Convention will enter into force for the Republic of the Marshall Islands on 1 September 2025. We look forward to welcoming the Marshall Islands at the Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties (22MSP) in Geneva in December this year,” said H.E. ICHIKAWA Tomiko, Permanent Representative of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament and President of the 22MSP. 

The last accession to the Convention by a State in the Pacific occurred in 2011 when Tuvalu joined.  Until now, no other State had acceded to the Convention since 2017.

“We are hopeful that the Marshall Islands’ ratification will encourage other states both in the Pacific and elsewhere to join the Convention, thus advancing our goal of universalization of the Convention.” added the Convention President.

With the Marshall Islands’ ratification, there is near universal acceptance of the Convention in the Pacific. The Federated States of Micronesia and Tonga - two countries in the region that have not yet acceded to the Convention - have been engaging with representatives of the Convention in recent years. 

Editorial note: The Convention was adopted in Oslo and signed in Ottawa in 1997, and entered into force twenty-five years ago, on 1 March 1999. It is the prime humanitarian and disarmament treaty aimed at ending the suffering caused by anti-personnel mines by prohibiting their use, stockpiling, production, and transfer, ensuring their destruction, and assisting victims. Together, the States Parties have destroyed almost 54 million anti-personnel mines. Implementation of the treaty has contributed to peace and development by making billions of square meters of land safe again for human activity and providing support to those that have fallen victim to the weapon.