OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Paul van den IJssel, formalised the contribution today at a ceremony held at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague.
The Hague, Netherlands — 12 November 2019 — The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will make two contributions totalling €3.3M to support a number of major projects and activities of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
A contribution of €2.3M will be made to the OPCW Trust Fund to support the project to upgrade the current OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store through the construction of a new Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”). Another contribution of €1M will support the activities of the Trust Fund for Syria Missions at the OPCW.
The Trust Fund for Syria Missions supports the Organisation’s missions and contingency operations related to the Syrian Arab Republic including the work of the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT), the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), and the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT).The Dutch contribution aims to equip the OPCW with the means to maintain its professional and impartial standards in addressing the threat from chemical weapons use.
OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Paul van den IJssel, formalized the contribution at a ceremony held at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague this week.
Ambassador van den IJssel highlighted the Netherlands’ longstanding support for the OPCW: “The Netherlands highly values the work of the OPCW. The commitments we formalize today are another illustration of our support to the organization and its crucial work.”
The Director-General expressed: “I thank the Government of the Netherlands for these major contributions, to the new OPCW ChemTech Centre and to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions. Both will further build the capabilities of our Member States to achieve a world free of chemical weapons. The construction of the Chem-Tech centre in the Netherlands highlights our deep-rooted collaboration towards countering the threat posed by chemical weapons”.
Director-General Arias appealed to all OPCW States Parties in a position to make voluntary contributions to do so. He further emphasized the important role the new ChemTech Centre will play in strengthening the OPCW’s ability to address chemical weapon threats, boost its investigative capability, and enhance capacity building activities. He highlighted that “all contributions, regardless of size, are greatly appreciated”.
So far, twenty-two States Parties and the European Union have contributed or pledged to contribute financially to the project, and a considerable amount has been raised to date.
