United Nations Secretary-General and OPCW Director-General Agree to Promote Mutually Beneficial Cooperation

The UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon and the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Mr. Rogelio Pfirter have agreed to strengthen the existing cooperation between their two Organisations in order to promote the international community's goals in the field of international peace and security. During their meeting held in New York on 18 October 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon referring to the disarmament objectives relating to weapons of mass destruction, characterised OPCW's work as being “the most well-advanced in terms of realising its targets”.

The Secretary-General thanked the Director-General for the important contribution that the OPCW provides within its mandate to support the implementation of Security Council resolution 1540 and the 1540 Committee’s work. He assured Director-General Pfirter that the OPCW can count on the Secretary-General’s support including the promotion of the universality of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an important pillar in the field of multilateral disarmament. Congratulating the Director-General on the tenth anniversary of the CWC’s entry into force, the Secretary-General commended the Technical Secretariat, which under the leadership of the Director-General had made significant strides towards realising the goals of the Convention. The Secretary-General also expressed the hope that OPCW Member States will fulfil their obligations to destroy all chemical weapons stockpiles within the CWC’s deadlines.

Director-General Pfirter expressed his gratitude for the United Nations’ strong support for the work of the OPCW and reaffirmed his commitment to continuing close cooperation with the UN in complementary and mutual beneficial areas as mentioned by Mr. Ban Ki-moon. He thanked the Secretary-General and his High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Sergio Duarte for their support in organising a number of important events that highlighted the work of the OPCW in the context of its 10th anniversary. He welcomed in particular the high priority that the Secretary-General places upon multilateral disarmament. The Director-General expressed his gratitude to the Secretary-General for his offer of further support for promoting the CWC’s noble objectives including the goal of making the Convention universally accepted. In this context, countries that are approached to join the Convention can be assured of an inclusive and cooperative spirit, which ensures that every nation is welcome and will receive the support needed to become a member of the OPCW family.

Director-General Pfirter and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also discussed further concrete avenues for promoting cooperation between the UN and the OPCW within the framework of their existing relationship agreement.

The Director-General extended a cordial invitation to the Secretary-General to visit the Headquarters of the OPCW.

PR107/2007

Categories: OPCW and the UN