[E-rundbrief] Info 581 - UNO - Biological Weapons Convention
Matthias Reichl
info at begegnungszentrum.at
Do Aug 23 17:58:29 CEST 2007
E-Rundbrief - Info 581 - UNO: Biological Weapons
Convention Implementation Support Unit, based in
the Geneva Branch of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.
Bad Ischl, 23.8.2007
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at
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NEW UNIT CREATED TO Help worlds effort against BIOLOGICAL WEAPON threat
Press Release DC/3079
Department of Public Information News and Media Division New York
20 August 2007
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/dc3079.doc.htm
GENEVA, 20 August (Office for Disarmament
Affairs) -- The international communitys efforts
against the threat of weapons of mass destruction
receive a boost with the inauguration today of
the Biological Weapons Convention Implementation
Support Unit, based in the Geneva Branch of the
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.
The Sixth Review Conference of the Biological
Weapons Convention in December 2006 decided to
establish an Implementation Support Unit to
assist States parties in their efforts to
strengthen the implementation of the Convention
and reduce the threat posed by biological
weapons. The decision was a landmark in the
history of the international communitys efforts
against biological weapons, as the Convention
itself has no provision for institutional support.
The Implementation Support Unit was officially
inaugurated at a ceremony held today in the
Palais des Nations. This launch coincided with
the opening of the 2007 Biological Weapons
Convention Meeting of Experts, the first part of
a work programme commissioned by the Sixth Review
Conference to further strengthen the implementation of the treaty.
The Implementation Support Unit, which is funded
by the States parties to the Biological Weapons
Convention and has a staff of three professional
officers, is based in the Geneva Branch of the
Office for Disarmament Affairs. The recently
appointed United Nations High Representative for
Disarmament Affairs, Sergio Duarte, invited
States parties to supportthis initiative: Much
of the mandate of the Unit is concerned with
facilitating communication among States parties
and, upon request, facilitating contacts with
scientific and academic institutions, as well as
non-governmental organizations. The Unit will
also serve as a central clearinghouse for
information relating to confidence-building
measures. Clearly, the more States parties make
use of such services, the better they will work.
The Unit is also mandated to provide
administrative support to the State Parties and
to promote universal adherence to the ban on
biological weapons and to persuade the remaining
States not party to join the Convention.
Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, who is
chairing this years meetings of the Biological
Weapons Convention, emphasized the key role to be
played by the Unit: The Unit will harness
resources, forge connections, develop networks
and identify opportunities. It will make an
important and innovative contribution to our
collective effort to reduce the terrible threat posed by biological weapons.
Also at the ceremony, the Director-General of the
United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergei A.
Ordzhonikidze, welcomed the establishment of the
Unit in Geneva which has long been an important
centre for disarmament diplomacy and the
Biological Weapons Conventions spiritual home.
Richard Lennane was appointed earlier this year
as Head of the Unit, which became fully operational on 2 August 2007.
Background
The international regimes dealing with nuclear
and chemical weapons have well-established
international organizations to oversee their
operation: the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). No such
institution exists for biological
weapons. Although the need for institutional
support for the Convention has often been
highlighted, until recently a common
understanding on a path forward could not be reached.
In the 1990s, Biological Weapons Convention
States parties worked on creating a regime
parallel to those found in the chemical and
nuclear spheres. But given the sharp differences
in perspective, the changing security environment
of the third millennium, and the unique
challenges posed by biological weapons, the
States parties decided in 2001 to take a new
approach. They established a new process,
focused on achieving more effective
implementation of the existing obligations of the
Convention. As this process developed, it became
clear that it would be useful to have a small
unit to assist States parties in taking such
action, and this evolved into the consensus
decision of the Sixth Review Conference to
establish the Implementation Support Unit.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production and Stockpiling of
Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons
and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the
Biological Weapons Convention, prohibits the
development, production, acquisition, transfer,
stockpiling and use of biological and toxin
weapons, and is a key element in the
international communitys efforts to prevent the
proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. The Convention opened for signature
in 1972, entered into force in 1975, and was the
first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons.
For further information, please contact: Richard
Lennane, Head, Biological Weapons Convention
Implementation Support Unit, tel.: +41 0 22 917
22 30; e-mail: rlennane at unog.ch.
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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
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