NEW UNIT CREATED TO COMBAT BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

The international community's efforts against the threat of weapons of mass destruction are receiving 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 (BWC) in December 2006 decided to establish an Implementation Support Unit (ISU) to assist States parties in their efforts to strengthen the implementation of the Convention and to reduce the threat posed by biological weapons. The decision was a landmark in the history of the international community's efforts against biological weapons, as the BWC itself has no provision for institutional support.

The ISU was officially inaugurated at a ceremony held today in the Palais des Nations. This launch coincided with the opening of the 2007 BWC 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 BWC 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 support this 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 ISU is also mandated to provide administrative support to the State parties, to promote universal adherence to the ban on biological weapons and to persuade the remaining States not party to the Convention to join the BWC.

Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, who is chairing this year’s meetings of the BWC, emphasized the key role to be played by the ISU: “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 and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, welcomed the establishment of the Unit in Geneva, which “has long been an important centre for disarmament diplomacy” and the Biological Weapons Convention’s “spiritual home.”

Mr. Richard Lennane was appointed earlier this year as Head of the ISU, 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 Biological Weapons Convention has often been highlighted, until recently a common understanding on a path forward could not be reached.

In the 1990s, BWC 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 BWC. 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 ISU.

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 (BWC), prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons, and is a key element in the international community’s efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The BWC opened for signature in 1972, entered into force in 1975, and was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons. The BWC is serviced by its Implementation Support Unit, founded in 2007 to provide administrative support for meetings of the BWC member States, as well as for their efforts on comprehensive implementation, universalization of the Convention and the exchange of confidence-building measures.

For further information, please contact: Mr. Richard Lennane, Head, BWC Implementation Support Unit, Tel: +41 (0)22 917 22 30; E-mail: rlennane@unog.ch


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