Mozambique
In September 2023, the Council of Ministers of Mozambique approved a proposal to submit the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to the National Assembly for ratification. ‘As this is the last stage of the internal procedures, we are committed to get this step done soon,’ the government said in November of that year.1 However, little progress was achieved in 2024 towards completing the ratification process, partly due to political instability.
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 (observer) |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (33%) |
| 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 2008, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1990) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2008) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2011) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2000) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (In force 2011) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | Yes (In force 2011) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At a ministerial-level meeting of the UN Security Council on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in March 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique, Veronica Macamo, said that her country is committed to the effective implementation of the TPNW, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Treaty of Pelindaba, which established Africa as a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ). ‘The international community must continue to work together to achieve a world that is safer and free from nuclear weapons,’ she said.2
At the NPT Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Mozambique appealed to all parties to conflicts to pursue diplomatic solutions in order to avoid the use of nuclear weapons, which would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Mozambique highlighted the urgent need ‘to strengthen the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture’. It hailed the Treaty of Pelindaba as ‘a symbol of hope and a beacon of our collective resolve to prioritise human welfare over the devastating potential of nuclear arms’. Africa has embraced ‘a vision of security built not on arsenals of mass destruction, but on diplomacy, dialogue, mutual respect and cooperation’, it said.4
Mozambique participated in the African Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the TPNW in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September 2024.5
Recommendations
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Mozambique should urgently ratify the TPNW.