Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire is an example to be followed by other states, as it has adhered to all of the seven key treaties in the legal architecture on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in addition to being party to a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) treaty.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 5 (20%) |
| 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 1973) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2003) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 2016) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (In force 1983) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes (In force 2016) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire, Kacou Houadja Léon Adom, said that the recent adoption of the Pact for the Future should serve to confer authority to the ‘norm of banning nuclear weapons’ under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The universalisation of that Treaty, including the accession of nuclear-armed states, ‘should remain the principal objective’, he said. He also announced the establishment of a national commission for the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Côte d’Ivoire called for ‘the consolidation of the norm of the prohibition of nuclear weapons represented by the [TPNW], through its universalisation and the deepening of its complementarity with' the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).2 It said that in June 2024 it created a body called the National Commission for the Prohibition of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems, based on its understanding of the ‘urgency of acting in the face of current trends’.3
Côte d’Ivoire was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.4
Côte d’Ivoire participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the TPNW in November-December 2023, where it noted ‘the growing importance assumed by the TPNW’ given its ‘continuously increasing’ membership and ‘the resounding success’ of the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP).5
Recommendations
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Côte d’Ivoire should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Côte d’Ivoire should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.