Algeria maintains seat to spearhead chemical weapons fight in Africa
Algeria has secured a unanimous renewal of its mandate to occupy a seat on the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the African region.
This two-year term is set to commence on May 12, 2024. The election was held on November 29, 2023, at the 28th session of the OPCW, the Algerian Press Service reports.
Ambassador Salima Abdelhak, a representative of the country, was simultaneously elected as president over the Plenary Committee of the 28th session of the Conference of States Parties, garnering consensus support for the Africa region.
Algeria has been actively engaged in the OPCW’s session through a substantial delegation comprising representatives from the National Authority responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the national community abroad, and the Permanent Representation of Algeria to the OPCW.
Ambassador Salima Abdelhak leads this delegation as the Permanent Representative.
Abdelhak making her national statement highlighted the “need to preserve the achievements made within the framework of the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the need to promote cooperation between States on the basis of a constructive and inclusive dialogue in order to move away of the polarization and politicization of the work of the Organization and reach consensual decisions allowing the promotion of International Peace and Security.”
The primary objective of the OPCW is to execute the stipulations outlined in the Chemical Weapons Convention, working towards the realization of a global landscape devoid of chemical weapons and the associated threat of their utilization. The overarching vision is to establish a world where chemistry facilitates peace, progress, and prosperity.
