Burkina Faso

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has signed the TPNW

Has not yet ratified the TPNW

SIGNED

22 September 2022

RATIFIED

 

IN FORCE

 

 

Status

Burkina Faso has signed but not yet ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

 

Signature

Olivia Ragnaghnewendé Rouamba, the minister of foreign affairs and regional cooperation of Burkina Faso, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York on 22 September 2022.

In a speech at the United Nations later that week, she said that nuclear weapons “constitute a threat to the survival of all humanity because of their humanitarian consequences”.

She subsequently advised ICAN that Burkina Faso would “take the necessary steps in connection with the ratification of the [TPNW] in accordance with its commitment to building a peaceful, secure and prosperous world free of all nuclear weapons”.

Olivia Ragnaghnewendé Rouamba, the minister of foreign affairs of Burkina Faso, signs the TPNW in 2022. Photo: Darren Ornitz

 

National position

In 2018, Burkina Faso said that the adoption of the TPNW made it possible “to complete the legal architecture for disarmament”. In 2019, it welcomed the growing number of states that had signed and ratified the treaty, while noting that it complements the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

In 2021, Burkina Faso hailed the TPNW’s entry into force as “a great victory for all the peoples of the world and a very significant event in the history of humanity”.

 

Universalisation

Burkina Faso has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring 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”.

Campaigners hold a meeting in the capital, Ouagadougou, in April 2021 to promote Burkina Faso’s adherence to the TPNW. Photo: WILPF Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso addresses a regional seminar on the universalisation of the TPNW in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2023. Photo: ICAN

 

Meetings of states parties

Burkina Faso attended as an observer the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. “Burkina Faso’s support for the TPNW is unwavering,” it said. “We commit ourselves to make all necessary steps to join it as soon as possible.”

 

TPNW negotiations

Burkina Faso it 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 2016, Burkina Faso 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

Burkina Faso 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 signed the TPNW

Has not yet ratified the TPNW

[HIGHLIGHTS]

SIGNED

22 September 2022

RATIFIED

 

IN FORCE

 

 

Status

Burkina Faso has signed but not yet ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

 

Signature

Olivia Ragnaghnewendé Rouamba, the minister of foreign affairs and regional cooperation of Burkina Faso, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York on 22 September 2022.

In a speech at the United Nations later that week, she said that nuclear weapons “constitute a threat to the survival of all humanity because of their humanitarian consequences”.

She subsequently advised ICAN that Burkina Faso would “take the necessary steps in connection with the ratification of the [TPNW] in accordance with its commitment to building a peaceful, secure and prosperous world free of all nuclear weapons”.

Olivia Ragnaghnewendé Rouamba, the minister of foreign affairs of Burkina Faso, signs the TPNW in 2022. Photo: Darren Ornitz

 

National position

In 2018, Burkina Faso said that the adoption of the TPNW made it possible “to complete the legal architecture for disarmament”. In 2019, it welcomed the growing number of states that had signed and ratified the treaty, while noting that it complements the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

In 2021, Burkina Faso hailed the TPNW’s entry into force as “a great victory for all the peoples of the world and a very significant event in the history of humanity”.

 

Universalisation

Burkina Faso has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring 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”.

Campaigners hold a meeting in the capital, Ouagadougou, in April 2021 to promote Burkina Faso’s adherence to the TPNW. Photo: WILPF Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso addresses a regional seminar on the universalisation of the TPNW in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2023. Photo: ICAN

 

Meetings of states parties

Burkina Faso attended as an observer the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. “Burkina Faso’s support for the TPNW is unwavering,” it said. “We commit ourselves to make all necessary steps to join it as soon as possible.”

 

TPNW negotiations

Burkina Faso it 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 2016, Burkina Faso 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

Burkina Faso 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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  • Réseau d’Action Sur les Armes Légères en Afrique de l’Ouest section du Burkina