The OPCW Hosts the UN Disarmament Fellows

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons held a two-day seminar for the United Nations Disarmament Fellowship on 21 and 22 September 2006 at its Headquarters in The Hague as a part of continuing disarmament education effort.

The Fellowship numbers 30 Fellows in this year, representing Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Guinea, India, Iran, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United States of America, and Zimbabwe.

The Fellows received an extensive briefing in all aspects of the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the global chemical weapons ban, by all 179 CWC States Parties. The CWC’s primary goal is to achieve a world free of chemical weapons. The OPCW Member States have pledged to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons, through the implementation of the provisions of the CWC for the sake of all mankind.

During this two-day event, the Disarmament Fellows received detailed briefings on a range of topics, including the mission and work of the OPCW, the status of implementation of the CWC, implementing legislation and enforcement of the CWC, the work of the OPCW Policy-Making Organs, the verification regime of the CWC, operational aspects of on-site inspections, exports and imports regulations under the CWC, and the OPCW’s role in preventing chemical terrorism, as well as the status and purpose of the programmes to support national implementation, international cooperation, assistance and protection and the 10th Anniversary of the entry into force of the CWC.

The Disarmament Fellows also had an opportunity to visit of the OPCW Laboratory to familiarize themselves with OPCW inspection equipment, and the types of analytical tasks that are undertaken by the OPCW Laboratory.

PR62 / 2006

Categories: OPCW and the UN