Commemoration of the Centenary of the First Large-Scale Use of Chemical Weapons held in Argentina.
The Centenary of the First Large-Scale Use of Chemical Weapons in Ieper during World War I was commemorated in a ceremony organised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Commerce and Cult on 22 April 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The event was organised in close cooperation with the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW and was presided over by Mr Eduardo Zuain, Vice minister of External Relations of Argentina, Mr Jorge Fernandez, Strategy Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and Mr Shawn DeCaluwe, Head of the Assistance and Protection Branch, representing the Technical Secretariat.
The remembrance ceremony counted with a broad participation of the local accredited diplomatic corps and representatives from the various national stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Participants of a regional OPCW Assistance and Protection Course being held in Buenos Aires were also present at the event.
During the ceremony, the full text of the Ieper Declaration from 21 April 2015 was read, the film Remembering Ieper was shown and a Bilateral Agreement between the Argentine Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for cooperation on CWC related matters was signed.