The Regional Africa Parliamentary Workshop brought together prominent Legislators and several Government officials from Central-African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, eSwatini, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania,Namibia,  Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe for a two day period to discuss and review the Biological & Toxin Weapon Convention (BTWC), in particular its significance in the context of the African  community with a view to identifying a range of practical steps and initiatives that could be taken to promote ratification and implementation of the BTWC, and Implementation of United Nations Security Council  1540 (2004) in their respective countries.

Also participating at the workshop were the UN Resident Representative, a Representative from UNDP, the High Commissioner of Canada to Tanzania, the High Commissioner of United Kingdom, a Representative from Embassy of Norway, and a Representative from the Embassy of the United States.

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the development, production and stockpiling of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, was opened for signature on 10 April 1972 and entered into force on 26 March 1975. 178 countries have joined the BWC to date. Namibia is currently a non- State Party to the BWC. In light of growing concern in recent years regarding efforts by Non State Actors, including terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda affiliates and ISIS, to manufacture and use biological weapons, a renewed international effort to improve the universality and national implementation of the BWC is now underway.

This PGA Regional Africa Workshop was hosted in collaboration with the House of Parliament of Tanzania, and kindly supported by the Government of Canada’s Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. The purpose of the Workshop was to enable participating Members of Parliament from over 20 African Nations, and several Government Officials, to share with their colleagues the current thinking and position in their respective countries in connection with the Biological & Toxin Weapon Convention.

During the course of the 2 Day Workshop, both in formal presentations and during the highly participatory Interactive Dialogue segments, all of the MPs present gave precise information on the current status of the BWC in their respective countries as well as steps they are currently undertaking to promote ratification or implementation of the BWC, as appropriate.

At the conclusion of the Workshop, a highly focused and time specific Declaration was adopted to facilitate all crucial follow up actions by all participants, in the aftermath of this Workshop.

All participants undertook, inter alia, to report back to PGA on what steps they have been able to take pursuant to the Dar Declaration within a 3 month period from the date of conclusion of the Workshop.

In parallel, individual/bilateral follow-ups and technical assistance will also be provided by PGA Secretariat Staff in New York and The Hague.

A full set of documents from this Workshop may be viewed by clicking on the appropriate linked document on this page.

For further information on this Regional Africa Workshop, please contact:

Peter Barcroft, Director of Peace & Democracy Program, PGA at peter.barcroft@pgaction.org or

Thiago Carvalho, Program Officer, Peace & Democracy Program, PGA at thiago@pgaction.org