Morocco’s Active Participation at the 5th Review Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

2023-05-19 12:45:35

Morocco participated in the work of the 5th Review Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which was held from May 15 to 19 in The Hague.

A delegation, led by the Ambassador Permanent Representative of Morocco, Mohamed Basri, and made up of the national departments involved in the implementation of the Convention, took part in this review conference, which meets every five years, with main objective to assess the state of implementation of the Convention and to define the priorities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the years to come.

During this Conference, Morocco was elected to the Subsidiary Committee in charge of accreditations and was part of a small group of Member States, invested by the Plenary Committee, to promote consensus on the final document of the Conference.

Morocco also took part in an ”active and constructive” manner in the various preparatory meetings, particularly within the open-ended working group in charge of preparing for this Conference.

The active contribution of Morocco within the framework of this Conference reaffirms, in fact, the continuous commitment of the Kingdom in favor of the noble objectives of the Convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons and this, able to contribute to the advent of a world free of chemical weapons.

During the general debate, the Permanent Representative of Morocco expressed Morocco’s position of principle and strong attachment to the objectives of disarmament, reiterating the Kingdom’s appeal to the States Parties to continue to work in a spirit of unity and promote constructive dialogue, in order to protect the norm and strengthen the unity and integrity of the OPCW.

‘’Morocco welcomes the positive development of the chemical weapons destruction process and reiterates the Kingdom’s call for the continuation of this process, in order to ensure, as soon as possible, the complete destruction of this category of weapons. chemicals”, he underlined, encouraging the OPCW Technical Secretariat to continue efforts to provide the necessary support, in particular through the strengthening of the capacities of the States Parties, in particular African, in order to mitigate the threat of use chemical agents by non-state actors, including terrorist groups.

Mr. Basri stressed the importance of capacity building for States Parties to the OPCW, reiterating Morocco’s call for the continuation of the efforts of the Technical Secretariat of the Organization, in particular in favor of the Africa, in order to ensure a balanced and optimal implementation of the Convention.

‘’Faithful to its commitment within the framework of an active and united South-South Cooperation, Morocco organized, jointly with the Organization, several important training courses, as well as Tutoring-Partnership programs, for the benefit of many representatives, in particular African States Parties”, he recalled, welcoming the inauguration of the OPCW Center for Chemistry and Technology ”ChemTech”, stressing the importance of this platform for research and analysis of excellence for capacity building.

The OPCW, with its 193 member countries, oversees the international community’s efforts to eliminate chemical weapons once and for all. Since the entry into force of the Convention in 1997, which is the most effective disarmament treaty, eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction, more than 99% of all declared stockpiles of chemical weapons have been destroyed under OPCW verification. His considerable efforts in the elimination of chemical weapons won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.

Morocco signed the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in January 1993 and ratified it in December 1995. Since then, the Kingdom, which has never been a possessor of chemical weapons, has fulfilled all its obligations to under the Convention, while remaining a fervent defender of the use of chemistry for peaceful purposes.

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