OPCW Deputy Director-General Participated in the 60th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs

On Saturday 2 November 2013, the Deputy Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Mrs. Grace Asirwatham participated in the 60th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs: Dialogue, Disarmament, & Regional and Global Security, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey. She delivered a speech on behalf of the Director-General at a special dinner, which was attended by around 170 participants, from different fields including academia, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.  

In her speech [PDF – 32 KB], the Deputy Director-General provided an update on: progress on chemical disarmament and OPCW’s achievements thus far, and the future for the OPCW and the ongoing joint OPCW-UN Mission in Syria. Mrs. Asirwatham further emphasized the role of scientific communities in preventing the re-emergence of chemical weapons and noted that consolidating the gains of chemical disarmament for future generations would require continuing collaboration with civil society and the chemical industry. 

Since its founding in 1957, the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs has been one of the world’s leading platforms, and has constructively contributed to global security issues, in relation to elimination of all weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This year’s Conference brought together more than 200 leading policy-makers, scientists and scholars to explore creative solutions to some of the world’s most challenging disarmament problems. President Abdullah Gül of Turkey delivered a keynote address at its Opening and expressed his hope that the process launched in Syria would be the first step of a regional security architecture ensuring the elimination of mass destruction weapons from the entire Middle East.