Third Assistance and Protection Training Course for Instructors from States Parties to the CWC in Africa

The third assistance-and-protection training course for instructors from States Parties to the CWC in Africa was been jointly organised in Tshwane by the Technical Secretariat and the South Africa Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The course, conducted from 1 to 12 September 2014, provided training to 16 instructors who are involved in the training of emergency response personnel in their own countries*.

Following recommendations of the first meeting of assistance-and-protection training centres, held in July 2012 in Switzerland, regarding the exchange of instructors and harmonization of training curricula among A&P training centres, instructors from China and Slovak Republic participated in the training and delivered presentations.

This course, the third of its kind, was held at a Ditholo Air Base in Tshwane. The theoretical lectures aimed to provide the participants with necessary knowledge to prepare a training course on how to respond to a chemical weapons incident. Participants were also provided with extensive information regarding protection against chemicals, detection and decontamination.

In addition to the theoretical training sessions, the course provided participants with an opportunity to engage in table top and practical exercises in the use of chemical protective equipment, sampling, detection, and decontamination techniques which are used in response to attacks during which toxic chemicals are used.

*Algeria, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Grenada, Kenya, Libya, Mauritius, Sao Tome e Principe, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Uganda, Zimbabwe.