29 April 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention. To celebrate this occasion, the research and transfer project CBWNet on strengthening the norms against chemical and biological weapons (CBW) was launched. The high-level event took place at the Hamburg State Representation in Berlin.

About 40 representatives of the German government, the Bundestag, international NGOs and high-ranking OPCW officials, including its Director-General Fernando Arias, were present at the event, which was supported by the German Foreign Office.

After the opening remarks by Rüdiger Bohn (Federal Foreign Office), Bernhard Klingen (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and Oliver Meier (IFSH), the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu delivered an address via a video message, thanking the new civil society initiative for hosting the event and cautioned that violations of the chemical weapons ban must not go unanswered.

All speakers emphasized that constant work is needed to ensure the continued success of the CWC. State Secretary Susanne Baumann of the German Federal Foreign Office warned that the “centerpiece of the CWC, the universally accepted and undisputed global ban of chemical weapons, is under ever-increasing pressure, just like our entire international rules based order”.

CBWNet is grateful to the many institutions and individuals who helped to establish this project, including the support and cooperation of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), and the German Federal Foreign Office, which made this 29 April high-level event possible.

Read the first CBWNet working paper here, to find the entire programe of the event and the statements made by the speakers.