This Webinar, kindly supported by the Weapons Threat Reduction Program of Global Affairs Canada, is the first follow-up event after a series of 4 virtual projects organized by PGA IPSP in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean in 2021, aimed at facilitating Legislators in encouraging those States that have not yet joined the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT), the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) and its Amendment (ACPPNM), to take the necessary steps to now do so.
Members of Parliament and Government officials from Uganda, Mali, Togo, South Sudan, Morocco, Malawi, Cameroon, Botswana, Zimbabwe, as well as from Canada, participated in this activity.
The meeting was opened by Mr. Peter Barcroft, Senior Director of PGA's International Peace and Security Program, who thanked participants for attending this session, in particular given the exigencies of the ongoing pandemic that is currently also affecting the Africa sub-region. The recent invasion of Ukraine, which has already witnessed some alarming developments impacting nuclear and radiological security, was also highlighted early on as an indication of the importance, and urgency, surrounding the need for global coordination in this sphere.
Participants’ attention was also drawn concretely to the fact that a growing number of African States are now also developing nuclear energy as a clean energy alternative. For this reason, it was equally important, simultaneously, to take steps to safeguard new nuclear facilities by ratifying the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT), the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM), and its Amendment (ACPPNM). In this connection, it was observed that considerable complimentary international assistance was available from the IAEA and UNODC in the national implementation of these respective treaties.
Seeking sustained engagement by women parliamentarians in this arena, taking into account also the disproportionate adverse impact of nuclear and radiological leaks/exposure on the physical and mental health and well-being of women, was also a recurrent theme of this event. The Parliamentary Handbook published by PGA in 2021 on Promoting the Role of Women Parliamentarians in Preventing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) was once again drawn to the attention of participants.
Mr. Barcroft also informed Participants that the PGA IPSP Team has now prepared individual National Plans of Action which it will be sharing with engaged PGA Membership in African States in the coming days. In the PowerPoint presentation delivered, the status of individual African States with respect to the three treaties in question was also drawn to the attention of the participants.
Before concluding, participants were urged to encourage their respective governments to participate in the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the Amendment of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material 2022, taking place from March 28 to 1 April 2022 in Vienna, Austria.
A number of interventions followed from participants. Hon. Agho Oliver Bamenju from Cameroon, thanked PGA and Global Affairs Canada for the informative briefing and for the Campaign more generally. Following this, Ms. Aissata Touré Diallo, a former Member of Parliament from Mali, made a similar comment, emphasizing the need for PGA to involve government representatives, when parliamentary levers may not be currently available, as is the case in Mali. 6 participants in this Webinar have already also subsequently reached out to PGA by email in the 24-hour period following conclusion of this activity.
PGA’s IPSP Team will continue to stay in contact with the Webinar Participants/Registrants in the coming weeks and months to encourage respective follow-up actions.
