H.E. Mr Henk Cor van der Kwast, Permanent Representative of The Netherlands to the OPCW, and Ambassador Fernando Arias, OPCW Director-General
THE HAGUE, Netherlands—20 December 2023— The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has voluntarily contributed €500,000 to the Trust Fund for the Implementation of Article X of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The contribution is earmarked for OPCW assistance and protection activities related to Ukraine.
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 19 December 2023 in a signing ceremony held between the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Henk Cor van der Kwast, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, at the OPCW’s Headquarters in The Hague.
“This contribution of the Netherlands is an important example of the full and continuing support of my country for Ukraine. The contribution will help strengthen Ukraine’s capabilities to protect its population against the possible use of chemical weapons,” said Ambassador van der Kwast.
“I would like to thank the Netherlands for its strong political and financial support to the OPCW and its mission to achieve a world free of chemical weapons. Ensuring that Member States have the capabilities to protect their populations in the case of a chemical emergency is a critical factor for the effective implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
Background
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has been an active member of the OPCW since the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997. The Netherlands is a member of the Executive Council, the OPCW’s executive organ, which is responsible for promoting the effective implementation of and compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention as well as supervising the activities of the Organisation’s Technical Secretariat.
To date, the Netherlands has contributed a total of €7,719,289 to 15 different OPCW trust funds, including the Trust Fund for Syria Missions, the Trust Fund for a Centre for Chemistry and Technology, the Trust Fund for OPCW Conference of the States Parties and Special Sessions Meetings.
Under Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Member States “have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, material and scientific and technological information concerning means of protection against chemical weapons.”
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.