Working Lunches with Permanent Missions of Africa (7 and 22 March 2023)

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Geneva Branch is currently implementing a four-year project to support the universalization and effective implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in Africa. This project complements UNODA’s other BWC-related activities in Africa and is funded by the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. To be successful, good visibility and buy-in from relevant national stakeholders is key. This includes African Permanent Missions in Geneva, which play a key role in BWC implementation, for example by coordinating with capital-based experts on BWC-related developments or participating in the submission of Confidence-building Measures (CBMs) and the designation of National Contact Points (NCPs).

To support the project and related outreach efforts, UNODA organized two working lunches in March. The first, for francophone permanent missions and donor States, was held on 7 March 2023, while the second, for anglophone permanent missions and donor States, was held on 22 March 2023. The two events gathered a total of 40 participants from permanent missions, of which 15 were women. A total of 15 ambassadors and permanent representatives (one of which was from a BWC non-State party) attended the events, demonstrating a high-level interest in the project and the assistance provided thereunder.

Both events opened with introductory remarks from UNODA on the importance of the BWC, its effective implementation and the assistance available under the project. The working lunches enabled informal and interactive discussions between African states, assistance providers and members of the project team about the universalization and effective implementation of the Convention.

“Permanent Missions in Geneva often have an important role in sharing information about the Convention with experts from capitals” said Alex Lampalzer, Deputy Chief of the BWC Implementation Support Unit (ISU). “These working lunches offered a unique opportunity for States’ representatives to discuss the challenges related to BWC implementation and to hear from UNODA about concrete cooperation and assistance opportunities available to them”, Lampalzer added.  

Following these two events, several requests for assistance were submitted to UNODA. After an examination of the individual requests, UNODA will provide requesting States with the details of specific programmes and activities that are available to support their national implementation of the Convention.

More information on the project is available here.

Questions may be directed to bwc@un.org.  

Introductory remarks by Alex LAMPALZER, Deputy-Chief of the BWC Implementation Support Unit, at the working lunch with anglophone permanent missions of Africa