The Hague, 21 February 2001

The Director-General of the OPCW, Mr José Bustani, today welcomed the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention by Zambia on 9 February 2001. Announcing Zambia’s decision to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, Zambia’s Foreign Minister Keli Walubita said that the ratification was a reaffirmation of his Government’s intention to implement fully the provisions of the Convention. He expressed the Zambian Government’s hope that the interests of both the Southern African region and international security would be enhanced through this further step towards the universality of the Convention.

With this ratification, 18 African States continue to remain outside the Convention. Only five African States have not signed the Convention. The 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Zambia is a member, includes 12 States Parties to the Convention, one signatory State the Democratic Republic of the Congo and only one non-signatory State Angola. It is hoped that Zambia’s ratification will spur those nations from Africa that have yet to ratify or to accede to the Convention to follow suit.

Zambia will become the 142^nd State Party to the Convention on 11 March 2001, thirty days after the deposit of its instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The number of signatory States those which have signed the Convention, but which have yet to ratify it stands at 32.