Ecuador

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

25 September 2019

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

 

Status

Ecuador 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

Lenin Moreno Garcés, the then-president of Ecuador, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017. In an address to the UN General Assembly, he called on “all countries to subscribe to this historic international instrument”.

José Valencia, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Ecuador, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 25 September 2019.

Ecuador was the 27th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Lenin Moreno Garcés, the then-president of Ecuador, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: UNOLA

José Valencia, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Ecuador, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: UNOLA

 

National position

In 2021, Ecuador described that the TPNW’s entry into force as “undoubtedly a victory for humanity”. It has argued that the TPNW “strengthens the effective implementation” of the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

 

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Ecuador submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 19 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, Ecuador 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”.

Ecuador has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.

In 2019, Ecuador said that the “best tribute” that states can pay to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is to sign and ratify the TPNW.

 

Meetings of states parties

Ecuador participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. It expressed support for the treaty’s full implementation, “in order to provide it with functionality, connecting it with global challenges and specific thematic aspects, in its different fields of application”.

The declaration adopted at the meeting “strengthens the commitment of [TPNW] states parties”, while the action plan “seeks to facilitate in a practical way the effective and timely implementation of the treaty”, Ecuador said.

Ecuador also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023, describing it as “a new opportunity to strengthen and continue with the institutionalisation of the treaty”. It reiterated its “firm commitment” to the goal of universal adherence to the TPNW, the fulfilment of which would “constitute a victory for humanity”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Ecuador 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 opening statement to the negotiating conference, Ecuador said that “the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons has been a constant priority [for Ecuador] for more than seven decades”.

In its closing statement, it said that “all peace-loving states”, as well as civil society, must work together “to convince, one by one, every state that now believes that its security depends directly or indirectly on nuclear weapons” to join the TPNW.

In 2016, Ecuador co-sponsored 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

Ecuador 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

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

25 September 2019

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

 

Status

Ecuador 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

Lenin Moreno Garcés, the then-president of Ecuador, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017. In an address to the UN General Assembly, he called on “all countries to subscribe to this historic international instrument”.

José Valencia, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Ecuador, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 25 September 2019.

Ecuador was the 27th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Lenin Moreno Garcés, the then-president of Ecuador, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: UNOLA

José Valencia, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Ecuador, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: UNOLA

 

National position

In 2021, Ecuador described that the TPNW’s entry into force as “undoubtedly a victory for humanity”. It has argued that the TPNW “strengthens the effective implementation” of the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

 

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Ecuador submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 19 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, Ecuador 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”.

Ecuador has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.

In 2019, Ecuador said that the “best tribute” that states can pay to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is to sign and ratify the TPNW.

 

Meetings of states parties

Ecuador participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. It expressed support for the treaty’s full implementation, “in order to provide it with functionality, connecting it with global challenges and specific thematic aspects, in its different fields of application”.

The declaration adopted at the meeting “strengthens the commitment of [TPNW] states parties”, while the action plan “seeks to facilitate in a practical way the effective and timely implementation of the treaty”, Ecuador said.

Ecuador also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023, describing it as “a new opportunity to strengthen and continue with the institutionalisation of the treaty”. It reiterated its “firm commitment” to the goal of universal adherence to the TPNW, the fulfilment of which would “constitute a victory for humanity”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Ecuador 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 opening statement to the negotiating conference, Ecuador said that “the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons has been a constant priority [for Ecuador] for more than seven decades”.

In its closing statement, it said that “all peace-loving states”, as well as civil society, must work together “to convince, one by one, every state that now believes that its security depends directly or indirectly on nuclear weapons” to join the TPNW.

In 2016, Ecuador co-sponsored 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

Ecuador 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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