Regional Workshop in Chile on ‘Strengthening Support for the Global Norm against Biological Weapons in the Context of the BWC, UNSCR 1540, and UNSGM’

October 18th, 2024

From 1-3 October 2024, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) convened a joint regional workshop in Santiago, Chile for hispanophone Latin American and Caribbean States and Brazil on “Strengthening Regional Support for the Global Norm against Biological Weapons in the Context of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM).”

The BWC, UNSCR 1540 (2004), and UNSGM are key measures adopted by the international community to address the threat posed by proliferation or use of biological weapons. While these initiatives are separate and independent of each other and address distinct issues related to biological weapons proliferation, they all contribute to a comprehensive approach to preventing and deterring the use of biological weapons and involve cooperation with many similar stakeholders at the national and regional levels. Within UNODA, initiatives to strengthen implementation, engagement, and cooperation on these measures are supported through the Implementation Support Unit for the BWC (BWC ISU), the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) Support Unit (UNSCR 1540 Support Unit) and the UNODA team in support of the UNSGM, often in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and partners. For this workshop, support was also provided by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), and the Organization for American States Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) (OAS/CICTE).

The three-day workshop brought together relevant national stakeholders, e.g., representatives from relevant ministries charged with the implementation of the BWC and UNSCR 1540 (2004), experts in relevant fields, and representatives from relevant laboratories and technical institutions dealing with disease outbreaks. The presentations and discussions aimed to raise awareness about the three instruments and serve as a forum for discussion, information exchange and sharing of best practices from the region related to strengthening each instrument.

The first day focused on the BWC and included presentations by staff from the BWC ISU and UNIDIR. The session began with an overview of the BWC, its main provisions and the current intersessional programme. The Working Group on Strengthening the Convention was then introduced – including an intervention by a delegate from Brazil, whose Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva chairs the Working Group. The session then focused on national implementation of the BWC in the region, with a presentation by the National Contact Point from Chile and concluded with a round table discussion in which workshop participants shared their experiences, best practices, lessons learned, and challenges in national implementation.

The second day focused on the UNSGM. UNODA provided an overview of the mechanism’s background, mandate and history, as well as the Guidelines & Procedures for a UNSGM investigation. UNODA also shared information about different ways in which Member States can support the mechanism, including the nomination process for the roster of experts and laboratories that might be called upon to support a UNSGM investigation, as well as the training programme and exercises for experts and laboratories once nominated. This was followed by group discussion, in which participants considered potential challenges of a UNSGM investigation and some who had been nominated to the UNSGM roster shared their experience with UNSGM activities.

The third day focused on UNSCR 1540 (2004). A representative from the Group of Experts supporting the UNSCR 1540 Committee provided a presentation, and this was followed by a joint session with representatives from UNLIREC and OAS/CICTE on relevant activities and contributions in the region for the implementation of the resolution.

In addition to the support provided by the partners mentioned above, financial support for the workshop was generously provided by the European Union and the Government of Canada. 

For more information on the different mechanisms, please visit the UNODA website: