Disarmament in Review
From 28 to 29 May 2024, in La Paz, Plurinational State of Bolivia, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) organized a national workshop on the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the preparation of Confidence Building Measures (CBM) reports. The workshop was organized with the support of the European Union and in cooperation with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Bolivia. The workshop was attended by around 50 national participants from several national entities.
Opening remarks were provided by Mr. Augusto Antonio Garcia Lara, Vice-Minister of Defence, Ms. Marissa Castro Magnani, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs a.i., Mr. Andreas Perez Fransius, Head of the Political Section at the EU Delegation to Bolivia and Mr. Rémi Bacouillard, Political Affairs Officer at the UNODA Geneva Branch.
On the first day of the workshop, presentations were given by UNODA on the BWC and key aspects of its national implementation, the role and responsibilities of BWC National Contact Points (NCP) as well as the importance of CBM reports. Ms. Sonia Fernandez, Project Coordinator at UNODA’s Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), made a presentation remotely on BWC national implementing legislation. Best practices on national implementation of the Convention and the preparation of CBM reports in Colombia were shared with participants by Ms. Yasmine Helena Urrutia Sanabria, First Secretary, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombia.
During the second day, participants engaged in a series of interactive exercises on the elaboration of CBM reports. Through these exercises, a mapping of the relevant contributing entities was carried out and potential timelines for the elaboration process were discussed. UNODA outlined further assistance opportunities to Bolivia and possible next steps were discussed. The workshop concluded with closing remarks by Mr. Esteban Elmer Catarina Mamani, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the National Authority on Chemical Weapons of Bolivia and Mr. Rafael Ramirez, Resident Coordinator a.i. in Bolivia.
The national workshop provided a valuable opportunity to national stakeholders to engage on ways to further strengthen the implementation of the Convention at the national level and to map additional assistance needs and opportunities.
