The Hague, 29 April 2003

UN Secretary-General Calls for Universality of the Chemical Weapons Convention

The message of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E.Mr Kofi Annan, was delivered to the First Review Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Conference at the first plenary session of the Conference by the Director of the Geneva Branch of the UN Department of Disarmament Affairs, Mr Enrique Roman-Morey.

In his message to the Review Conference, the UN Secretary-General stated that "by embracing a non-discriminatory disarmament standard, by promoting multilateral cooperation, by institutionalising such cooperation in the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and by aspiring to become fully universal in membership, the CWC represents an effective and credible multilateral approach to the threats arising from the possession and proliferation of chemical weapons". In his message, Mr Annan stressed that "thanks to this treaty regime, the world has seen a reduction in its stockpiles of chemical weapons, new progress in eliminating existing stockpiles, much tighter controls over the materials and technology that can be used to make such weapons, an intrusive verification system to monitor compliance, improvements in transparency of relevant holdings of weapons and related materials, expanded information sharing among the parties and enhanced export controls". Progress in all these areas "will also help enormously in alleviating the danger of chemical weapons falling into the hands of terrorists."

The Secretary-General added, "recent events have made clear the urgent need to ensure the complete universality of the treaty. The need to accelerate the process of chemical disarmament requires added financial assistance from the international community. A solemn commitment by States Parties to the full implementation and further strengthening of all provisions of the Convention is needed to give new impetus to the realisation of its goals."

The United Nation Secretary-General's expressed in his message his hope and expectation that "The confidence-building role of the CWC should be further reinforced by effective national legislation, and multilateral cooperation,” noting that "the United Nations has worked closely with the OPCW, and recognizes the need for further cooperation over the years ahead. This need can only grow in importance, especially in light of new technological developments -- including some that may create new weapons threats, and others that may offer new tools to strengthen the implementation of the Treaty."