Southern African Development Community Nations Strengthen Capacity to Implement the Chemical Weapons Ban

The Republic of South Africa and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) co-hosted a sub-regional Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) workshop for the representatives of National Authorities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, in Tshwane, South Africa from 9 to 11 July 2007. The workshop was attended by 39 representatives of 14 States Parties, including Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Angola, a non-State Party, also took part in the workshop.

Logo of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

At the opening ceremony for the workshop, Ms Sue van der Merwe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said that “South Africa sees non-proliferation within the context of a much broader and all encompassing development process, which is part of our foreign policy agenda. Towards this end we have committed ourselves to promoting and supporting the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, with the goal of international peace, stability and security….” The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs further noted that “it is therefore encouraging to note the unique role played by the CWC and the OPCW in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. No other process, institution or mechanism in this field has come close to realising, in a similar manner, the destruction and prohibition of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. The CWC is currently the only multilateral instrument that is realising actual disarmament, subject to an effective system of verification as well as settling specific deadlines whereby such destruction has to be completed”.

In his opening remarks at the workshop, the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter commended the Government of South Africa for its active support in strengthening Member States’ capacity to implement and enforce the CWC. Noting that all States Parties from the sub-region provided presentations on their nation’s implementation efforts, he considered the workshop an example of concrete progress in establishing a comprehensive and lasting ban on chemical weapons by profiting from lessons learned and developing solutions. Director-General Pfirter thanked the representatives of Angola for their participation in the workshop and expressed the hope that Angola would ratify the CWC soon. He also acknowledged the government of the Netherlands’ generous financial support for this workshop.

The workshop raised awareness of the States Parties’ obligations under the Convention. It provided participants from the SADC region an opportunity to share experiences, to assist and to support each other as they continue to address challenges relating to national implementation of the Convention.

An OPCW information display was erected by the South African Government during the workshop to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the CWC and to raise awareness of the Convention.

PR77 / 2007

Categories: Africa, National implementation