PH Chairs Meeting of the Biological Weapons Convention
GENEVA 23 August 2018 – The Philippines, through Philippine Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva Maria Teresa T. Almojuela, chaired the first meeting of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Meeting of Experts held in Geneva from 07 to 16 August 2018.
Ambassador Almojuela chaired the experts meeting on “Cooperation And Assistance, With A Particular Focus On Strengthening Cooperation And Assistance under Article X,” the first of five meetings being held this year in the Inter Sessional Programme of the BWC.
Article X highlights the cooperation and assistance pillar of the BWC, which was adopted by states in 1972 and entered into force in 1975.
The BWC aims to prohibit the development, production, and stockpiling of biological weapons as well as eliminate such weapons from the arsenals of states through effective measures, in particular dangerous weapons as those using bacteriological agents.
Article X encapsulates the legal obligation of state-parties to facilitate the exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for the use of bacteriological agents and toxins for peaceful uses so as not to hamper the economic and technological development of those countries. This explains the relevance attached to Article X by the Philippines and other developing states, including the Non Aligned Movement.
In her remarks, Ambassador Almojuela called on states parties to fully seize the new opportunities being brought about by the rapid pace of new scientific technologies and keep approaches to cooperation in step with the times.
“We have a Convention that is 46 years old, that has its own important place among disarmament instruments, and it needs a modernized toolbox to keep it robust, relevant and effective in the 21st century,” Ambassador Almojuela said.
The Deputy Permanent Representative further linked the work of the experts in promoting international cooperation in the BWC, so that it can contribute to efforts at achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She cited UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ new disarmament agenda, as presented in the paper “Securing Our Common Future” as an impetus for the state parties to broaden understanding and intensify action, to enable disarmament bodies to participate in realizing the SDGs.
She stated that this agenda gives strong direction to efforts in the BWC process to better institutionalize the BWC, to link disarmament efforts with the SDGs, and synergize partnerships.
The meeting of experts seeks to generate practical measures and concrete recommendations on how international cooperation can be used to improve the Philippines’ and other state parties’ ability to keep the world safe from biological weapons as well as promote the peaceful uses of biotechnology.
The two-week Meeting of Experts is attended by 300 participants from state-parties, international organizations, and civil society. The BWC has 181 state parties, and was first treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. END
For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/.