Eighth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention: Where Next? (Invite only workshop)

There are three versions of this report: [1.a] for audiences familiar with the Biological Weapons Convention; [1.b] with additional background material for those less familiar with the Biological Weapons Convention; and [1.c] a summary version.

WORKSHOP REPORT v1a

WORKSHOP REPORT v 1b

WORKSHOP REPORT v 1c

Led by Catherine Rhodes, Academic Project Manager at CSER, and Malcolm Dando, Bradford Disarmament Research Centre

While there was potential to make progress in several areas, the Eighth Review Conference failed to move things forward, and has left the process for the next few years largely undirected. This workshop included discussion of:

  • The outcomes of the Review Conference, the reasons for the lack of progress, and what these might indicate in terms of challenges and opportunities over the next few years
  • Foreseeable stumbling blocks, such as the additional difficulties likely to be presented by the current international political climate, and how these might be addressed.
  • Potential roles and capacities of international governmental and non-governmental organisations in support of / complementary to the Convention.
  • Within this context, what might be achieved over the next few years by the Intersessional Process, and through work outside this.

Each session of the workshop aimed to identify a few ‘next steps’ for action that can be taken by participants to promote progress, particularly in the lead up to the 2017 Meeting of States Parties. These were revisited in a summary session at the end of the day.

 

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