BTWC Meeting 2017: NGO statement
Joint NGO Statement to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Meeting of States Parties Geneva, 5 December 2017 Mr Chair, Distinguished Representatives: Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today. I am pleased to have taken over the role as NGO Coordinator from Graham Pearson who so ably carried out this task for 20 years. This year, the NGO community offers a joint statement, to more powerfully focus our key messages to you. I am speaking on behalf of 19 organizations and 40 individuals, the full list of which is attached to the written copy of this statement. The …
BTWC MSP 2017 – Final document – draft (scan)
The final document of the 2017 Meeting of States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) can be downloaded from: 20171208 Final document – draft (scan) This is a scan of the draft version as it was distributed to delegations in the meeting room. Some modifications were made and insertions added. For the full official final version of the meeting report, please check in the course of next week the website of the BTWC Implementation Support Unit at http://bit.ly/2kFSj6c Jean Pascal …
Talking disarmament for the Middle East
Last month Noha Tarek from Egypt commented on my reflection that neither members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), with the exception of India, nor Arab League members have contributed financially or in kind to the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons (CW). Syria participates in both groupings. She linked disarmament elements to a host of intra-regional and external politics and considered the relationship between Syria’s (read: Arab) CW and Israel’s nuclear arsenal. It has taken me a while to reply. I could have easily registered my disagreement with several elements, but that does not open new perspectives for disarmament in the …
Disarmament on top of the world
Given that the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) has already attracted 190 states parties, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) has become something of a laggard. Not just in terms of numbers, but also regarding the time it has taken to secure the 170 ratifications or accessions. It entered into force in 1975, or 22 years before the CWC became effective. Over the past decade and a half parties to the BTWC have stepped up their efforts to secure more ratifications and accessions. Unlike the CWC, the BTWC does not have an international implementation organisation that can take charge of …