December 2022 Newsletter
Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition Awarded OPCW-The Hague Award

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the City of The Hague in The Netherlands jointly awarded the prestigious OPCW-The Hague Award last week to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Coalition. 

The OPCW-The Hague Award is given annually on the first day of the CWC Conference of States Parties (CSP) in The Hague. 

The award began eight years ago after the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 for verifying the abolition of all declared chemical weapon stockpiles; it seeks to recognize those individuals and organizations which have been active in promoting and implementing a world free of chemical weapons and thereby shares the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. The award has been given to twelve individuals and organizations to date, and carries a 90,000 Euro prize. 

This year it was shared with three organizations – the CWC Coalition, the Federal Risks Brigade of the Federal Police of Argentina, and the Population Protection Institute of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic. 

Dr. Paul Walker, Coordinator of the CWC Coalition, accepted the prize in The Hague on behalf of the CWC Coalition, and stated: “The CWC, the OPCW, and all delegations here play critical roles in helping us all build a world free of chemical weapons.  But such far-reaching and historic multilateral treaties also require the global village to truly universalize and fully implement their mandates.  We therefore will continue to underline the importance of civil society involvement at all levels – local, national, regional, and international – in order to build a much more safe and secure world, and to prevent any reemergence of such deadly weapons of mass destruction.” 

More information is available on the OPCW website. 

All CSP-27 NGO Statements Available Online

Written by experts from around the globe, these 10 joint statements and 12 individual NGO statements provide clear and concise action items and recommendations to States Parties and other CWC implementers. View Statements

States Parties Respond to CWC Coalition Joint Statement 

A group of 49 states parties to the CWC supported a joint statement concerning accreditation of NGOs in response to the joint statement we submitted protesting the practice of the GC rejecting certain organizations. Read Statement

Help us spread the word about the CWC Coalition program coordinator role! 
 The Arms Control Association is seeking a full-time program coordinator to coordinate programmatic and outreach activities of the Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition. Details (including salary range) are available at ArmsControl.org/Employment. The deadline for applications is December 16! 
In Case You Missed It: OPCW Request for Statements 
On November 11, the OPCW Public Affairs team emailed “all previously accredited individuals,” a.k.a individuals who have applied to and been accredited for a CSP, to request written statements in the form of policy input addressing the following questions:
  • What should the 5th Review Conference seek to address as a matter of priority? 
  • What should be the priority areas for the OPCW in the next five years and why?

 If you missed this email, search your inbox for the subject line “Invitation to submit a written statement in preparation for the Fifth Review Conference (2023)” sent by [email protected].  

The email provides the following statement guidelines: DEADLINE 13:00 CET on Tuesday, 13 December 2022. Please view the email for additional information about how to submit the statement. 

  • Submissions should be no more than 1,000 words.
  • Contributions should focus on policy recommendations.
  • Political statements will not be accepted.
  • All submissions must include the name of the civil society organisation and appropriate individual.
  • DEADLINE 13:00 CET on Tuesday, 13 December 2022. 

Please view the email for additional information about how to submit the statement. 

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