H.E. Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Mishal Al-Sabah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence of the State of Kuwait, and Ambassador Fernando Arias, OPCW Director General
THE HAGUE, Netherlands—30 November 2023—The Government of the State of Kuwat contributed €70,000 to the Trust Fund for the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The contribution will be used to support the activities of the SAB and its Temporary Working Groups.
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 29 November 2023 in a signing ceremony held between the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence of the State of Kuwait, H.E. Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Mishal Al-Sabah, and OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, on the sidelines of the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CSP-28) in The Hague, Netherlands.
“In light of the State of Kuwait’s ongoing efforts to maintain and promote global peace and security, and its strong belief in the pioneering role carried out by the OPCW with the noble aim of a world free of chemical weapons, the State of Kuwait remains committed to working closely with the OPCW within the framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention,” said Undersecretary Al-Sabah.
“Moreover, with the emergence and rapid development of technologies, the State of Kuwait presents a voluntary contribution to the Scientific Advisory Board in support of its work in monitoring and assessing these developments within the OPCW’s mandate,” he added.
“I would like to thank the State of Kuwait for this contribution, which will support the ongoing work of the SAB. Monitoring rapid advancements in science and technology and their related risks and opportunities is of critical importance to the work of the Organisation and its mission to permanently eliminate chemical weapons,” the Director-General said.
Background
The State of Kuwait has been an active member of the OPCW since the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997.
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is an OPCW subsidiary body that enables the Director-General to render specialised advice in science and technology to the Conference of the States Parties, Executive Council, or States Parties to the Convention.
The SAB reports to the Director-General, who submits its reports, alongside his own response, to the Executive Council. Every five years, the SAB prepares a larger report on developments in science and technology for submission to Review Conferences of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
On 7 July 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 — totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents — have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW’s strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.