Regional Workshop on Electronic Declarations Tool for National Authorities (EDNA) in Asia

The National Authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) jointly organised the Regional Workshop in the Advanced Training of Electronic Declarations Tool for National Authorities (EDNA) Version 2.1 in Asia

The workshop was conducted 7 – 9 June 2011 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Twenty-two participants from 14 States Parties in the region participated in this event.*

The workshop was opened by Dr. Irfan Yusuf Shami Director – General, National Authority of Pakistan who welcomed the participants to the regional workshop and emphasised the importance of the verification regime under the Chemical Weapons Convention. In his remarks, Dr. Shami made reference to the useful role that the Electronic Declarations tool for National Authorities or the EDNA software can play to assist the States Parties to use a standardised format when preparing and submitting declarations which is one of the two pillars of the verification regime and to contribute to the more effective processing and handling of the information received by the Technical Secretariat.

The programme of the regional workshop focused on the preparation of electronic declarations under Article VI of the Convention using the most recent version of the EDNA software (version 2.1) and imparted information on the different aspects of the verification regime, including the Verification Information System, unresolved matters and frequent problems in declarations from the States Parties and the tools intended to assist the States Parties in preparing declarations such as the Declarations Handbook.

The regional workshop provided an excellent opportunity for the participants to receive practical, hands-on training in the use of the EDNA software in order to enhance their skills and proficiency in preparing and submitting electronic declarations.

The Regional Workshop on Advanced Training of Electronic Declarations Tool for National Authorities (EDNA) Version 2.1 in Asia is the third of its kind in a series of three regional workshops held to promote the use of this software.

The funding for the regional workshop was provided by the European Union under Council Decision 2009.

* Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen.

Categories: EDNA