OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü updated the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), H.E. Ban Ki-moon on progress achieved regarding the destruction of chemical weapons and other ongoing activities related to the implementation of Chemical Weapons Convention during his visit today to the OPCW in The Hague.
Expressing how honoured the OPCW Secretariat was to receive the Secretary-General at its Headquarters for a second time, Ambassador Üzümcü said, “The UN and the OPCW share the common goal of achieving global peace and security by eliminating chemical weapons. The OPCW partnership with the United Nations is vital as this global mission requires constant vigilance to prevent the re-emergence of chemical weapons.”
The Director-General and the Secretary-General discussed the progress and challenges of the OPCW’s mandated activities in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Director-General’s briefing also included updates on the OPCW’s recent Technical Assistance Visits to Iraq and recent efforts related to the destruction of remaining Category-2 chemical weapons in Libya.
The Secretary-General welcomed the briefing, stating “The OPCW is a good friend and partner of the United Nations. As chemical weapons continue to pose a grave risk, cooperation between our two organizations has deepened enormously in recent years. I fully expect this will continue, to the great benefit of humanity.”
The UN and the OPCW have demonstrated a historic and unprecedented partnership to remove Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles. This joint endeavour has required agility, expertise, coordination in addition to cooperation with States Parties to undertake such a complex operation.
View: A Flickr gallery from the visit