Biological weapons: Kazakhstan’s proposal for an international organisation five years later
On 23 September 2020, amid the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan addressed the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and advanced the establishment of an International Agency for Biosafety (IABS). Just over five years later, on 14 October 2025, the Kazakh Ministry for Foreign Affairs organised a one-day seminar in Almaty. Its title: 50th Anniversary of the BTWC: From Commitment to Action – the International Agency for Biological Security (IABS) initiative. The timing of the seminar was perfect. At the start of the month, the Chairperson of the Working Group (WG) on the Strengthening …