Bolivia

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

16 April 2018

RATIFIED

6 August 2019

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

 

Status

Bolivia has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.

 

Signature and ratification

Evo Morales, the then-president of Bolivia, signed the TPNW in New York on 16 April 2018. Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz, the then-permanent representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 6 August 2019.

Bolivia was the 25th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Evo Morales, the then-president of Bolivia, signs the TPNW in 2018. Photo: UNOLA

Bolivia said that it chose to ratify the TPNW on 6 August, the 74th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima, so as not to forget those who lost their lives in the attack. The date is also Bolivia’s independence day.

Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz, the then-permanent representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: UNOLA

 

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Bolivia submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 18 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.

Per Article 12, Bolivia has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.

In statements to the United Nations, Bolivia has repeatedly called on all states that have not yet done so to join the TPNW.

Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz, the then-permanent representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, participates in a workshop to promote ratification of the TPNW in 2019.

 

National position

Bolivia welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021, stating that it “gives us hope that one day nuclear weapons will be eliminated in their entirety”.

According to Bolivia, the TPNW “incorporates a humanitarian approach” and a “gender perspective”, “complements and reinforces” all previous disarmament instruments, and contributes to implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

 

Meetings of states parties

Bolivia participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. It said that the meeting “must be the effective beginning of the path towards the total prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons”.

Later that year, it said that the political declaration and action plan adopted at the meeting of states parties “will help set the course for the implementation of the treaty and constitute important steps towards our common goal of a world free of nuclear weapons”.

Bolivia also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023, where it reiterated its “full commitment to achieving the purposes of the TPNW and to the measures adopted in the Vienna Action Plan”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Bolivia participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its closing statement to the negotiating conference, Bolivia said that, as a “pacifist state”, it rejects “the manufacture of nuclear weapons”.

In 2016, Bolivia voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

 

Before the negotiations

Bolivia was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

 

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

[HIGHLIGHTS]

SIGNED

16 April 2018

RATIFIED

6 August 2019

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

 

Status

Bolivia has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.

 

Signature and ratification

Evo Morales, the then-president of Bolivia, signed the TPNW in New York on 16 April 2018. Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz, the then-permanent representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 6 August 2019.

Bolivia was the 25th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Evo Morales, the then-president of Bolivia, signs the TPNW in 2018. Photo: UNOLA

Bolivia said that it chose to ratify the TPNW on 6 August, the 74th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima, so as not to forget those who lost their lives in the attack. The date is also Bolivia’s independence day.

Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz, the then-permanent representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: UNOLA

 

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Bolivia submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 18 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.

Per Article 12, Bolivia has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.

In statements to the United Nations, Bolivia has repeatedly called on all states that have not yet done so to join the TPNW.

Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz, the then-permanent representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, participates in a workshop to promote ratification of the TPNW in 2019.

 

National position

Bolivia welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021, stating that it “gives us hope that one day nuclear weapons will be eliminated in their entirety”.

According to Bolivia, the TPNW “incorporates a humanitarian approach” and a “gender perspective”, “complements and reinforces” all previous disarmament instruments, and contributes to implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

 

Meetings of states parties

Bolivia participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. It said that the meeting “must be the effective beginning of the path towards the total prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons”.

Later that year, it said that the political declaration and action plan adopted at the meeting of states parties “will help set the course for the implementation of the treaty and constitute important steps towards our common goal of a world free of nuclear weapons”.

Bolivia also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023, where it reiterated its “full commitment to achieving the purposes of the TPNW and to the measures adopted in the Vienna Action Plan”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Bolivia participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its closing statement to the negotiating conference, Bolivia said that, as a “pacifist state”, it rejects “the manufacture of nuclear weapons”.

In 2016, Bolivia voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

 

Before the negotiations

Bolivia was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

 

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

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