The OPCW organised a special 2-day induction programme on 12 and 13 September 2013 for a group of senior government representatives from the Federal Republic of Somalia to assist country’s implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The delegation was headed by H.E. Ambassador Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations in Geneva, together with Mr Mohamed Sheik Hassan Hamud, Member of the National Security Advisory Team, and Mr Mohamed Ali Jama, Senior Security Advisor to the Prime Minister.

Somalia acceded to the CWC on 29 May of this year and the treaty came into force 30 days later on 28 June, thereby making Somalia the CWC’s 189th State Party. This is the first time that officials from Somalia visited the OPCW and attended a programme as representatives of a State Party.

The Deputy Director-General, Mrs Grace Asirwatham, welcomed the delegation on behalf of the Director-General and expressed the readiness of the OPCW Technical Secretariat to assist by all means Somalia’s implementation efforts.  Thanking the Secretariat for organising the induction programme, the Somali delegation sought the cooperation and assistance of the OPCW in order to enhance the necessary capacity of Somalia to implement the CWC.

The programme included elements on rights and obligations of States Parties under the Convention, initial implementation measures for a new State Party, international cooperation and assistance functions of the Technical Secretariat, verification-related national requirements, and the overall institutional setup and operations of the OPCW. The delegation also paid a visit to the OPCW Laboratory.