Addis Ababa, 30 October 2015: The Commission of the African Union (AU) organized a two-day meeting of Member States on the universalization of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in Africa, in collaboration with the Geneva-based Implementation Support Unit of the BWC.

The meeting was organized within the framework of the Common African Defense and Security Policy (CADSP) adopted by the 2^nd Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of States and Government, in February 2004, and in follow-up to the press release of the Chairperson of the Commission, issued on 26 March 2015, on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of the entry into force of the BWC.

The objective of the meeting was to enhance understanding of the BWC and its implementation among signatories and non-signatories in order to promote its universality. The meeting discussed a number of related topics, including procedures for ratification of, and accession to, the BWC; national legislative, administrative and enforcement measures; the BWC Confidence Building Measures, advances in science and technology, convergence between biology and chemistry and implications for the BWC; synergies between the BWC and UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004); and international assistance and cooperation within the framework of the BWC.

The meeting also discussed in depth matters of bio-safety, bio-security and bio-sciences and technology in Africa, as well as the implications and lessons learned from the Ebola Disease Outbreak, including the national and regional measures required to address disease outbreaks and bio-threats. 

It should be recalled that the BWC prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, retention, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. It is one of the three fundamental pillars of the international community's effort against weapons of mass destruction along with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Globally, 171 States are Party to the BWC, 39 of which are AU Member States.  

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