The OPCW and the Government of the Czech Republic co-organised an advanced practical training course on assistance and protection against chemical weapons in Lazne Bohdanec from 20 to 24 May 2013 that was attended by 11 participants from the East Africa region.*
The course was a refresher training for a long-term capacity building project with States Parties in the East Africa sub-region that was launched in June 2007. Other activities implemented under that project thus far include a workshop on Article X in Uganda in 2007 and practical training courses in the Czech Republic and Tanzania from 2008 to 2010. A team from the East Africa sub-region also participated in the ASSISTEX 3 exercise that was held in Tunisia in 2010.
The objective of the course in Lazne Bohdanec was to deliver advanced level training using the train-the-trainers concept and to provide participants with necessary know-how on field procedures as instructors. The course covered the areas of personal protective equipment, detection, decontamination and sample collecting.
* Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda, and Mauritius