Participants at a National Awareness Workshop for Senior Decision Makers and Stakeholders in National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was held in Dili, Timor-Leste, from 22 to 25 September 2015.
The OPCW, in cooperation with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, conducted a two-day National Awareness Workshop for Senior Decision Makers and Stakeholders in National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention followed by a two-day Legal Workshop for Drafting the National Implementing Legislation for CWC in Dili from 22-25 September, 2015. The event was partly supported by the European Union through the EU Trust Fund.
The National Awareness Workshop was part of an ongoing effort on the part of the OPCW Technical Secretariat and States Parties to prepare government, industry, educational and other relevant stakeholders from Timor-Leste to effectively implement the CWC. The workshop was jointly inaugurated by H.E. Dr. Aderito Hogue, Vice President of the National Parliament and H.E. Mr. Dr. Longuinhos Monteiro, Minister of Interior. Both of them pledged support to the efforts undertaken by the OPCW and the Government of Timor-Leste to effectively implement the Convention and to expedite the establishment/designation of the National Authority as well as drafting and adoption of national CWC implementing legislation. The workshop was hosted by the National Police Training Academy under the leadership of Mr. Julio da Costa Hornay, General Commander of the Timor-Leste Police.
The workshop was attended by more than 80 senior and mid-level officials from a broad range of government departments and technical institutions including Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior, Health and Environment, Finance and Departments of Police, Customs, Firefighters, Social Security etc.
The key focus of the awareness workshop was on creating awareness with regard to the overview of the CWC, role and functioning of the OPCW, role of the National Authority, declarations and verification regime, and international cooperation and assistance programmes.
The second phase of the activity was the conduct of a legal workshop for drafting the national CWC implementing legislation. The participants representing a broad range of stakeholders actively participated in the drafting exercise and created an initial draft that will serve as the basis for further discussion and finalization of the national CWC implementing legislation.