The Hague, 7 March 2002

A workshop on the Chemical Weapons Convention, jointly organised by the Government of the Sudan and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), will be held from 9-11 March 2002 in Khartoum, the Sudan. The Deputy Director-General of the OPCW, Mr John Gee, will be representing the Organisation.

The focus of the workshop is increasing the OPCW's membership in Africa and providing technical support to Member States in that continent for the implementation of the Convention. Participants from countries in Africa, including from States not party to the Convention in that region, are expected to arrive in Khartoum for this, the largest such event ever held in Africa. The regional Member States, together with representatives of France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, will be able to share their national experiences of the implementation of the Convention.

The OPCW wishes to thank those Member States-Norway, Oman, Sweden, and the United Kingdom-which have provided generous financial support for this important workshop.

Before the workshop commenced, the OPCW's Legal Adviser, Mr Rodrigo Yepes?Enriquez, provided the National Authority of Sudan with support in drafting its implementing legislation. It is hoped that the Sudanese legislation will serve as a model for other African Member States that have not yet enacted legislation to implement the Convention at the national level.