June 2023 Newsletter

It was an absolute pleasure to meet those of you who attended RC5 in the Hague last month, and I hope to have the chance to meet more coalition members at future conferences. On behalf of the coalition, I would like to express how much we appreciate your dedication to our shared goals.

NGO participation at the conference was at an all-time high, with events engaging civil society taking place almost every day.

On Monday evening there was an informal, off-site event at the Norwegian ambassador’s residence where NGOs that were rejected from attending the conference were able to speak and meet with conference attendees.

On Tuesday the CWC Coalition presented 10 NGO statements at the conference in the presence of OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias. These statements covered a range of issues relevant to NGOs and are now official documents of the conference. US Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins invited NGOs to a breakfast at the American ambassador’s residence to hear from NGOs about their current and future involvement.

On Wednesday afternoon the CWC Coalition-hosted side events took place. We would like to thank coalition members Mary Wareham and Michael Crowley, for presenting at the open forum and to Homeyra Karimivahed and Shahriar Khateri for the side event on victims’ rights and health.

Finally, on Thursday the CWC Coalition hosted an informal apéro at the Marriott Hotel where coalition members could mix before the conference’s end on Friday. In case you missed it, you can find my daily blog about the conference here.

2023 marks a turning point in the CWC’s lifetime: RC5 marks the 25th anniversary of the convention and in September the United States is set to complete the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile – the last state party to do so. While we celebrate these achievements, we also must not forget that pressing issues facing the CWC’s implementation and efficacy remain. There is much to be done as the CWC enters its next quarter century and the CWC Coalition will continue to support and increase civil society engagement with the CWC.

We will be hosting an online event on Wednesday, June 21 to reflect on the review conference as well as discuss the coalition’s future endeavors. We encourage you to share your thoughts about the conference and ideas about events that the CWC Coalition can host this year and ways to support your projects. Another email with more details will be sent out at the end of this week.

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