Disarmament in Review
From 26 to 27 March 2025, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) organized the first-ever national workshop on the implementation of the BWC. The event was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and supported by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The purpose of the workshop was to deepen participants’ understanding of the Convention, rights and obligations of States Parties, and its effective implementation at the national level. The activity also aimed to share effective practices in preparing the annual Confidence-Building Measures (CBM) reports. The two-day event gathered around 40 participants, including national officials and experts in biosafety and biosecurity, public health, diplomacy, security and multilateral arms control. Regional experts from Serbia and Hungary also participated, alongside representatives and observers from the NATO HQ Sarajevo, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Centre for Security Cooperation (RACVIAC), the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
During the opening session, Ms. Aida Hodžić, Acting Assistant Minister of BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized the importance of the BWC in preventing the misuse of biological agents as weapons of mass destruction. She also highlighted the importance of capacity building efforts and noted the close collaboration with the BiH Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Civil Affairs to further strengthening the implementation of the BWC in the country.
Ambassador Julian Reilly, the UK Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, noted that the UK is committed to working with its allies and partners to maintain, update and strengthen international regimes, treaties, initiatives and global norms that support the goals of non-proliferation and biosafety and biosecurity. He also emphasized the importance of preventing state and non-state actors from developing, producing, acquiring, transferring, stockpiling or using biological weapons. He added that the UK supports Bosnia and Herzegovina in its efforts to strengthen biosecurity.
Dr. Alex Lampalzer, Deputy Chief of the BWC ISU, also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the BWC, stressing the need for collective efforts to uphold the taboo against biological weapons.
Dr. James Revill from UNIDIR outlined key aspects of national implementation and introduced the BWC National Implementation Measures Database. Bosnia and Herzegovina informed about current efforts in implementing the BWC at the national level. Experts from Serbia and Hungary presented lessons and best practices in relation to implementing the Convention in their countries, thereby offering some practical suggestions for consideration by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Participants engage in an interactive session on Confidence-Building Measures under the BWC. 
Participants engage in an interactive session on Confidence-Building Measures under the BWC.
A tabletop exercise addressed CBMs in the framework of the BWC alongside related presentations by the Hungarian and Serbian experts, which gave participants a better understanding of the preparation, importance and benefits of these reports for States Parties. Additionally, the workshop also provided information on regional and international assistance and cooperation activities to reinforce biosafety and biosecurity measures with potential opportunities shared by UNICRI, RACVIAC, UNIDIR and the ISU.
Additional information on the BWC is available here.
