United Kingdom Contributes £1M to Support OPCW’s Cyber Resilience and Centre for Chemistry and Technology
In the picture, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Ms Joanna Roper CMG, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias at OPCW Headquarters.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – 6 November 2020 – The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has made two contributions totalling £1M to a special Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Trust Fund to support a number of major projects and activities of the Organisation.
A contribution of approximately £700,000 (€774,000) will support the activities of the Trust Fund for Security and Business Continuity. The funding will allow the OPCW to keep enhancing its cyber resilience from a security and business continuity perspective thus ensuring the Organisation is well prepared to meet current and future challenges.
Another contribution of £300,000 (€332,000) will be made to the OPCW Trust Fund to support the upgrade to the current OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store through the construction of a new Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”).
The contribution was formalised today during a ceremony between the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Ms Joanna Roper CMG, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, which was held at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Roper remarked: “I am delighted that one of my first tasks as the UK’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW is to agree a further UK voluntary contribution of £1m to OPCW programmes. This funding will go towards the ChemTech Centre and cybersecurity, and the UK is pleased to support these valuable strands of OPCW work.”
The Director-General thanked the UK Government for the contribution and expressed: “Our aspiration for a world free of chemical weapons can only become reality through concerted institutional action. I am grateful to the United Kingdom for its continued support, notably for the two important projects that underpin our strategic vision for remaining fit-for-purpose guardians of the global chemical weapons ban.”
Director-General Arias appealed to all OPCW Member States in a position to make voluntary contributions to do so. He further emphasised the important role the new ChemTech Centre will play in strengthening the OPCW’s ability to address chemical weapon threats and enhance capacity building activities. He highlighted that “all contributions, regardless of size, are greatly appreciated”.
So far, 45 countries, the European Union, and three other donors have contributed or pledged to contribute financially to the ChemTech Centre project, and a considerable amount has been raised to date.
