On 2 April 2004, 19 trainees, participating in the inspector-training course conducted by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), graduated and became the newest members of the OPCW Inspectorate. The graduates are nationals of 19 Member States.
The OPCW’s international inspectors play a crucial role in the global implementation of the chemical weapons ban by verifying both the irreversible destruction of the declared chemical weapons stockpile, as well as ensuring together with Member States that chemical weapons do not re-emerge.
The six-week intensive OPCW inspector-training programme included: a comprehensive series of lectures, provided by experienced practitioners in the field of chemical demilitarisation and industry verification, case studies and table-top exercises to provide an in-depth understanding of the entire inspection procedure, as well as field-training, exercising OPCW safety procedures and developing hands-on experience with the approved inspection equipment.
Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom generously provided support for the inspector-training course.
At the graduation ceremony held at OPCW headquarters in The Hague, Acting Director General, Mr Brian Hawtin, emphasized the responsibility that inspectors bear in effectively and impartially verifying Member States’ compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, “You will be working at the cutting edge of international, multilateral verification as part of a regime that has now conducted over 1,600 inspections in 62 countries. Sometimes these missions involve exposure to the world’s most poisonous substances. In all cases, you are tasked to maintain strict confidentiality to protect Member States’ national security and commercial proprietary information. Member States depend upon your diligence and professionalism to acquire the assurance they seek that chemical weapons will be verifiably eliminated, never to re-emerge.”
12/2004