Legal representatives from Ghana, Djibouti, and Benin recently participated in an Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-sponsored internship program aimed at providing insight for drafting country-specific national legislation related to the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Conducted at the OPCW’s Technical Secretariat in The Hague, the event covered a wide range of CWC-related topics including legal requirements, legal national implementation issues, initial and annual declarations to the OPCW, the roles of a National Authority, and provisions in the implementation of legislation to address chemical terrorism.
After the training courses concluded, participants from each country submitted a comprehensive action plan and summary of its draft legislation that they will introduce in their home countries. According to the OPCW, each plan consisted of a timeline for CWC adoption which will serve as a reference for the Technical Secretariat.
Since the launch of the internship program in 2012, the OPCW has provided training for representatives of 35 State Parties including Cape Verde, Panama, Grenada, Paraguay, and Uganda — each of which has successfully implemented CWC-related national legislation.
OPCW serves as the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Entered into force in 1997, the convention represents the most-successful disarmament treaty in history targeting an entire class of weapons. It is the most successful disarmament treaty targeting an entire class of weapons of mass destruction in history.
To date, approximately 95 percent of all chemical weapons stockpiles declares by OPCW’s 192 Member States have been destroyed under the organization’s verification.