Disarmament in Review
From 15 to 26 July 2024, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) of South Africa, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, organized a basic training course for the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigations of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The basic training course for the UNSGM was aimed at providing experts nominated by UN Member States to the UNSGM roster with a better understanding of their role in carrying out investigations of alleged use of biological weapons should they be deployed as part of a UNSGM mission. This includes key information about the UNSGM, including the background, mandate, Guidelines and Procedures, and other elements of the mechanism. The course gave an overview of the capabilities of other disciplines that may be involved, so that the experts can understand what is needed to support their colleagues and what can realistically be expected from the different fields. Finally, the basic training course introduced the experts to the support expected from different offices and departments of the United Nations, as well as the relevant UN processes in which the investigation would take place.
A group of 17 experts on the UNSGM roster from 15 countries attended the course in Johannesburg. Representatives from UNODA provided briefings on the UNSGM, such as its mandate and history, the roles and responsibilities of experts nominated to the roster, the UNSGM Guidelines and Procedures, coordination and support with other UN offices and departments, and report writing. A former staff member of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security provided guidance on operational safety and security, cultural awareness, mission planning, information gathering, communication strategy and field communication. Representatives from NICD provided technical instruction on topics including risk assessment and personal protective equipment, sampling, sample packaging and transport, and decontamination. The course also benefitted from presentations by external partners on forensics and chain of custody, mis- and dis-information, and investigative interviewing, among others.
In addition to the lectures and presentations, the course included several practical components for participants and concluded with a two-day field exercise. During the field exercise, experts were split into two groups, and each group was asked to plan their mission, conduct sampling and interviews, and write a preliminary report of their findings. The exercise allowed experts to put into practice the knowledge acquired during the previous days of the course.
In addition to the support provided by NICD and the Government of South Africa, financial support for the workshop was generously provided by the European Union and the Governments of Canada and Spain.
For more information, please contact the UNODA team in support of the UNSGM at UNSGM@un.org.
