THE HAGUE – Tuesday, 28 November 2023 (APS) – Algeria’s “leading” role in strengthening the capacities of African states to meet the challenges arising from the use of chemical weapons was hailed on Monday in The Hague, at an event organized on the sidelines of the 28th Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Permanent Representation of Algeria to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the OPCW, Algeria, in collaboration with Canada and the Technical Secretariat of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), organized on Monday in The Hague a side event on the multi-component exercise for States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in Africa, “Chemex Africa 2023,” held in Algiers from 23 September to 5 October, in cooperation with the OPCW secretariat.
The event was attended by a record number of permanent representatives from many OPCW member countries, including the permanent representative of Algeria, Salima Abdelhak, the permanent representative of Canada, Hugh Adsett, and the organisation’s deputy director general, Odette Melono.
Abdelhak took the opportunity to highlight Algeria’s role within the organization and its ongoing support for cooperation activities in Africa, as a contribution to the implementation of the Convention in Africa and a commitment to disarmament and international peace and security.
The participants stressed the “importance of this regional exercise in view of the OPCW’s new challenges, including chemical terrorism, and the need to strengthen the capabilities of African first responders to chemical incidents”, reads the press release.
They also noted Algeria’s “leading” role in capacity-building for African states to meet the challenges posed by the use of chemical weapons, in particular chemical terrorism.