Events

MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) - The participants of the 20th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) unanimously voted to institute the OPCW International Day and mark it on 29 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.

The Belarusian delegation headed by Belarus' Permanent Representative to the OPCW, Belarusian Ambassador in the Netherlands Nikolai Borisevich attended the session.

Belarus first voiced the idea to institute such a day in the early 2014. The Belarusian initiative was supported by the OPCW the Director General and OPCW member states.

Establishing such a memorable day will help the international community resolve a number of major challenges, including the universalization of the Chemical Weapons Convention, combating the emergence of chemical weapons, improving the safety of the chemical industry enterprises, and will also enable the organization to expand its education and information activities, the press service said.