Building Africa's Capacity to Prevent the Misuse of Toxic Chemicals
The prevention of the proliferation and misuse of WMDs is an accepted norm amongst virtually all African States. The success of the CWC in Africa shows the continent's commitment to a world free of chemical weapons.
Amelia Broodryk, Researcher and Noel Stott, Senior Research Fellow, Arms Management Programme, ISS Pretoria Office
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction or Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was adopted in 1992 and is the only convention in the world today that eliminates an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. Importantly for Africa, the CWC is not only a global disarmament and non-proliferation regime providing key security, but the Convention’s implementation body, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), is proactive in promoting economic, scientific, and technological development through its various projects and programmes in the field of international co-operation.
There are currently 50 African States Parties and three (Angola, Egypt and Somalia) non-signatory states to the CWC. This represents an almost unanimous rejection and an unequivocal ban of chemical weapons in Africa. The near universalisation of the CWC in Africa is largely due to the numerous co-ordinating activities of the OPCW and, more specifically, as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation between the Commission of the African Union and the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The creation of the OPCW ‘African Group’ and a specific Programme for Africa has further enabled African states to co-host regular meetings on the continent on topics that are of direct relevance to them. Due to the success of the first phase of the Programme for Africa, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü approved the implementation of a second three-year phase.
Only three countries in Africa have neither signed, nor ratified the CWC - Angola, Egypt and Somalia. There are a variety of reasons for this, and each country has unique circumstances preventing them from doing so. All three countries continue to be invited, and sometimes participate in, and/or attend Conferences of States Parties (as observers), various OPCW-run events including basic courses for National Authorities and workshops for customs authorities.
In support of the goal of an Africa free of chemical weapons and in accordance with the CWC, Libya had to destroy approximately 9.5 metric tons of mustard agent by 15 May 2011, and a quantity of precursor materials by 31 December 2011. However, recent events in Libya have led the OPCW’s Executive Council to publically express its concern and to remind Libya of its obligation to ensure the security of its remaining stockpile whilst continuing with destruction within the established deadlines. In mid-May 2011, Libya requested an extension of the deadline, which is currently being considered by the Executive Council. It is believed that Libya has already destroyed the munitions required to use the chemicals as weapons but some 11.25 tonnes of the mustard gas is still awaiting destruction.
In May 2011, Mauritania became the 186th nation to activate a national authority to interact with other member states and with the OPCW as well as to submit mandatory declarations and accompany OPCW officials during inspections of industrial and military facilities.
The near-universalisation of the CWC in Africa is a testament to the continent’s commitment to ensuring that the misuse of dangerous chemicals does not happen either in Africa, or anywhere else in the world. While it remains important to promote accession in the remaining three states not yet party to the Convention, effective implementation of the CWC in the existing States Parties continues to be an ongoing challenge. Although the OPCW has geared much of its work towards achieving this goal, it cannot do this alone. Other stakeholders, such as the chemical industry, regional and sub-regional bodies, as well as civil society must work collaboratively to ensure that the practical aspects of the Convention are implemented appropriately. This co-operation should also include a tailor-made approach to implementing the CWC, and other related WMD conventions in Africa.
