EU donates $5 million to OPCW, UN-OPCW joint investigative unit

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Uzumcu announced last week that the European Union has provided a total of $5 million for fact-finding work in Syria and other joint United Nations ventures.

“This important contribution will enable the organization to continue to effectively carry out crucial mandated activities,” Uzumcu said.

The decision provides $5 million to OPCW special missions in the Syrian Arab Republic, including activities related to the OPCW fact-finding mission and joint investigative mechanism — the purpose of which is to identify, to the greatest extent possible, individuals, entities, groups or governments who were perpetrators or sponsors of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The joint investigative mechanism was established on Nov. 30 when the Council of the European Union adopted a decision supporting UN Security Council Resolution 2235(2015) in the framework of the EU’s Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.