Introductory Remarks by the Director-General of the OPCW, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, at the Third Meeti

Introductory Remarks by the Director-General, Fernando Arias, at the Third Meeting of the OPCW Africa Programme Steering Committee 25 June 2021, The Hague, Netherlands Mr Chairperson, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Dear colleagues, It is a great pleasure to address the third meeting of the Steering Committee of the OPCW Africa Programme. [...] Mr Chairperson, The Secretariat has continued to achieve significant progress in the implementation of the 5th Phase of the Africa programme, since the last Committee meeting on November 16th 2020. [...] The backbone of the programme, is in the area of capacity-building and the Secretariat has intensified the delivery of online training activities. [...] Furthermore, the Secretariat continued to develop awareness related to the risks that implies the use of certain chemicals, in general in the world, and specifically in the Africa region. [...] The Secretariat provided a briefing on the Africa Programme to the Implementation Support Unit of the Biological Weapons Convention, and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in April this year.