THE HAGUE, Netherlands—29 November 2023— During the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CSP-28), the Head of South Sudan’s Delegation, Ambassador Santino Fardol Watod Dicken, also Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of South Sudan in Brussels, addressed the Conference announcing South Sudan’s readiness to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention. South Sudan is one of the four countries yet to join the Convention.
Ambassador Fardol emphasised: “Joining the global commitment to uphold and strengthen the norm against chemical weapons is not only our duty but also a step toward regional and global security.”
He further highlighted the importance of the sustained constructive engagement between South Sudan and the Organisation and expressed gratitude to the OPCW Technical Secretariat for its assistance.
Ambassador Fardol stated: “South Sudan will work diligently to complete the accession process as soon as possible.”
Before addressing the Conference, Ambassador Fardol delivered a letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan, Hon. Dr. James Pitia Morgan, informing the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, of recent developments with respect to the accession process. The letter stated that: “The process is now in the Legislative Assembly following completion by the Cabinet, and we [South Sudan] look forward to completing it soon.”
Prior to CSP-28, a bilateral meeting was held between the Director-General and the Foreign Minister in Algiers, Algeria, in October 2023. During the meeting, a joint communique was issued stating both sides’ commitment to work together to complete South Sudan’s accession process as soon as possible.
Director-General Arias reiterated the readiness of the Technical Secretariat to support South Sudan’s accession, stating: “I look forward to welcoming South Sudan as the 194th State Party to the Convention at an early stage.”
Background
To date, 193 States have committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Only four countries have yet to join the Convention –the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Israel (a Signatory State) and South Sudan.
Universality of the Chemical Weapons Convention underpins the achievement of a comprehensive, verifiable ban on chemical weapons. It consolidates the international norm prohibiting chemical weapons, reinforces the Convention as a confidence-building measure, prevents proliferation, and helps deny access to chemical weapons by non-State actors.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
On 7 July 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 — totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents — have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW’s strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.