The Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is taking place in The Hague, the Netherlands from 21 to 30 November. The Review Conference takes places every five years and gathers delegations from the Convention’s 193 States Parties to review the operation of the Convention and discuss its direction for the next five years.
Apart from the States Parties, international organisations, members from chemical industry, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are invited to participate in the Review Conference. On Friday 23 November, NGOs had the opportunity to deliver statements.

VERTIC’s statement can be read here and watched here.

A number of side events are organised on the margins of the Review Conference. On Thursday 22 November, VERTIC participated in AFRICSIS’s side event on national implementation of the CWC in African States Parties. Senior Legal Officer Yasemin Balci spoke on the challenges and benefits of drafting and adopting implementing legislation for the CWC.

On Tuesday 27 November, VERTIC contributed to a side event organised by the Government of Sweden, on “Support to States Parties’ Efforts to combat the threat of chemical terrorism”. Senior Researcher Alberto Muti presented the results of a recent pilot study on the IAEA experience of supporting international nuclear and radiological security efforts, reflecting on how lessons learned in that context could be applied by the OPCW to support chemical security efforts worldwide and combat the threat of chemical terrorism.

To follow the developments at the CWC Review Conference, please see here for daily reports prepared by CBW Events.