Bangladesh formally assumes chair of OPCW executive council

Bangladesh has formally assumed the Chair of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the next one year.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW Sheikh Mohammed Belal assumed this role in a simple ceremony this morning in the presence of the Director-General and other senior officials of the OPCW and the Ambassadors of Chile, Slovakia, Spain and Sudan, said a press release.

Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal was elected unanimously as the Chairperson of the Executive Council of the OPCW for the term 12 May 2017 – 11 May 2018 on 9 March 2017 during the 84th Session of the Executive Council of the OPCW held in The Hague, Netherlands from 7-10 March 2017.

This is for the first-time Bangladesh was elected to a high post like the Chairperson of the Executive Council in the OPCW. Ambassador Belal, during his assumption ceremony, appealed to states Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention to work unitedly for a world free of chemical weapons.

As the new Chairperson of the Executive Council, Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal would oversee the appointment of the new Director-General of the OPCW in addition to more frequent exchanges with the UN Security Council over the reports of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) as well as the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the OPCW regarding the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syrian territory.

The assumption of the Chair of the Executive Council would demonstrate Bangladesh’s contribution to the world peace and commitment to attain global disarmament and stem proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This new role of Bangladesh in an organization like the stature of the OPCW will surely heighten Bangladesh’s image further.