Botswana
Addressing the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, Botswana called on all states that have not yet ratified the Treaty to do so, ‘as its universalisation is a step in the right direction to complete nuclear disarmament’.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2022) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 2 (50%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1999, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1969) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2002) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1992) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 1998) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, Botswana said that its early ratification of the TPNW indicated its ‘strong support for the total elimination of nuclear weapons’, adding that its ‘pro-elimination position is influenced by the need to prevent catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences that would result from the use of nuclear weapons’.2 In a closing statement to the NPT Review Conference, Botswana and 64 other TPNW supporters urged ‘all states committed to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons to join the TPNW without delay’.3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Botswana said that the failure of the Review Conference ‘should not overshadow the progress that has been made in relation to the [TPNW], in particular, its entry into force, successful first Meeting of States Parties and the adoption of the Vienna action plan’.4
Recommendations
- Botswana should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
- Botswana should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.