Assistance and protection professionals from Latin America
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — 27 June 2017 — Assistance and protection professionals from Latin America can now better respond to incidents with chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), after completing a course in San José, Costa Rica from 3 to 7 June.
The event was co-organised by the OPCW and National Firefighter Academy of Costa Rica, in collaboration with the Costa Rican National Authority. Additionally, Colombia provided an instructor through OPCW’s Instructor Development and Exchange Programme.
The course was put together in response to requests for capacity-building from OPCW Member States who need to enhance their preparedness to respond to incidents with toxic chemicals including chemical warfare agents.
In attendance were 22 representatives from six Member States in Latin America: Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras.
Background
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – and with its 192 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
To date, nearly 95 per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.