THE HAGUE, Netherlands — 21 August 2019 — The Government of New Zealand is contributing €64,000 toward the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Trust Fund for Syria Missions in support of the operations of the team tasked with the identifying the perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria, as determined by the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission.
The team was created pursuant to the decision on addressing the threat from chemical weapons use adopted by the Conference of the States Parties at its Fourth Special Session in June 2018.
The donation was formalised through a formal exchange of letters between the OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Government of New Zealand through the Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Lyndal Walker.
At a ceremony at OPCW Headquarters today, the Director-General expressed his gratitude to the Government of New Zealand for its contribution and continued support of the Organisation, adding that all OPCW Member States in a position to make voluntary contributions were encouraged to do so.
Ambassador Walker remarked: “New Zealand remains a strong supporter of the OPCW and its work towards a world free of chemical weapons. New Zealand’s contribution to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions will assist
