REMARKS BY DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG AT SEMINAR COMMEMORATING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION

Following are the remarks made by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, at the seminar held jointly today by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons:


“Let me welcome you all warmly to this seminar organized to mark the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. I thank the Director of UNIDIR, the Director-General of the OPCW and the Pugwash movement for the organization of this important event.

Allow me to formally congratulate Mr. Pfirter for his leadership and contributions of the OPCW towards the goal of excluding the use of chemical weapons.

As the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, it is a matter of satisfaction to me to recall the inspired efforts in the Conference on Disarmament that culminated in the elaboration and subsequent entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on 29 April 1997.

An evaluation of the Convention at the 10-year mark inspires optimism for the future but cautions against complacency. The CWC has no doubt successfully established an effective norm against the stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. However, it needs to be continually adapted to today’s chemical threats. With additional members, smarter verification, and faster destruction, the CWC can be decisive in finally ridding the world of chemical weapons.

Early efforts against the use of chemical agents in conflict did not manage to preclude the use of such agents on a major scale during the First World War. Despite the horrendous consequences, serious consideration to the banning of these weapons was not given until the late 1960s, and even then efforts to ban the use of chemical agents were complicated by the prevailing political climate. Particular impetus for an overarching agreement was given by revelations about the usage of chemical agents in the late 1980s.

Even when agreement emerged on the principle to prohibit the use of chemical weapons, concerns about the intrusiveness of a verification regime delayed the adoption of an instrument until 1992.

While the hammering out of the Convention was laborious, the support it gathered from the beginning has been quite impressive. With a membership currently standing at 182 States parties, the Convention is rapidly approaching universality.

As the first multilateral disarmament agreement that requires the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is a landmark commitment from the international community in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. Over the last 10 years, the keen resolve of the international community – through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – to secure the world from the threats of chemical weapons has become increasingly evident.

I would like to emphasize that the adoption, universalization, full implementation and, where necessary, strengthening of multilateral treaties and of other international instruments which aim to prevent the proliferation or illicit acquisition of such weapons, and strengthen the institutions designed to implement these instruments, represents a major way to address the issue.

This is the true role of the Conference on Disarmament, which meets habitually in this Chamber, but whose efforts have been unproductive since the negotiation of the CWC and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in the 1990s.

Yet, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery poses a growing danger to us all. Together with the spread of international terrorism, it is deemed the pre-eminent threat to international security. This global challenge requires a multifaceted solution.

We need to tackle this challenge both individually and collectively – working together and with other partners, including through relevant international institutions, in particular those of the United Nations system.

As you take part in this seminar, I suggest you do so mindful that the pledge undertaken by the States parties to the CWC is a crucial element in the field of global disarmament, ensuring a safer world for future generations.”.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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