Deputy Director-General Ambassador Grace Asirwatham (left) and the Chairman of the Sri Lankan National Authority, Anura Siriwardena
The OPCW Deputy Director-General, Ambassador Grace Asirwatham, together with the Chairman of the Sri Lankan National Authority, Anura Siriwardena inaugurated the Workshop on the Chemical Security and Safety for Sustainable Industrial Development for Member States of the OPCW in the SAARC ( South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region on 17 December 2014 in Colombo.
The workshop was attended by participants from SAARC countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
In her opening statement the Deputy Director-General stated that the OPCW is working with stakeholders to increase awareness of the need for a more proactive approach towards different models for enhancing chemical safety and security, and underlined the benefits of improving cooperation between governments and industry, especially when it comes to tackling the threat posed by non-state actors and terrorists. The Deputy Director-General emphasised the need to create a culture of chemical safety and security, and to raise awareness at all levels with a view to increasing the priority given to chemical safety and security.
During the visit the Deputy Director-General also delivered a lecture at the Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon, on the contribution of the OPCW to the global disarmament and non proliferation and the OPCW’s achievements and challenges in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.