High-Level Chemical Weapons Convention Meeting Held at the United Nations

The tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was celebrated in a High-Level Meeting held in New York on 27 September 2007, during the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Convened upon the initiative of the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, this major event devoted to the CWC was organised by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Poland, whose Foreign Ministers, H.E. Mr Maxime Verhagen and H.E. Ms Anna Fotyga, respectively, co-chaired the Meeting. The Meeting was organised with the assistance of the OPCW Technical Secretariat and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.

Over forty Foreign Ministers attended the Meeting that reaffirmed the international community’s strong commitment to multilateralism and to the goals of the CWC, and drew together representatives of more than 120 United Nations Member States. Participants provided statements expressing their support for the CWC and its implementation by the OPCW, and reiterating their Governments’ resolve to achieve a full and effective chemical weapons ban.

The United Nations Secretary-General, H.E. Mr Ban Ki-moon attended and addressed the Meeting together with the OPCW Director-General Pfirter. The United Nations Secretary-General’s High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, H.E. Mr Sergio Duarte was also present.

In his address, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon referred to the CWC as a truly significant accomplishment in the field of disarmament and as a monument to the world’s determination to eliminate one of the most inhumane weapons ever conceived. He also recalled that the negotiations on the text of the CWC were the result of the dedication by Governments and representatives of civil society, working together in the United Nations arena. Welcoming the progress by Possessor States towards completely eliminating their chemical weapons stockpiles, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also paid tribute to the OPCW for its effective contribution to this effort. At the same time, he invited all States that have not yet joined the CWC to do so without delay. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged his full readiness to continue to promote the CWC’s full implementation, and called for a joint effort by the United Nations, the OPCW, their Member States and civil society to achieve this goal.

In his address to the Meeting, the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, recalled a number of important achievements in the Convention’s first decade, and underscored the ethos of cooperation and consensus that the OPCW has built. In referring to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as a global threat, Director-General Pfirter underlined the CWC’s role in effectively addressing this scourge in its specific field through its comprehensive approach to chemical disarmament and non-proliferation. Thanking the OPCW’s Member States for their dedication and goodwill, Director-General Pfirter pointed to the CWC and the OPCW as a living example of how the United Nations Charter and its principles that promote international peace and security can be transformed into action.

The Meeting was also attended by representatives of three States not party to the CWC: the Dominican Republic, Israel, and Iraq, as well as by representatives of the European Union, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

A statement was issued at the conclusion of the meeting

PR103 / 2007

Categories: 10th Anniversary, OPCW and the UN