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Canada “voluntarily” contributed to the funding of two trust funds affiliated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, with over 2 million Canadian dollars, most of which will go to the Investigation and Identification Team fund in Syria.
An amount of 1,390,000 Canadian dollars will be used to support the complete elimination of the chemical weapons program in Syria, according to the OPCW website, while 750,000 Canadian dollars will go towards assisting and supporting activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Ukraine.
The funds are intended to be used to establish the facts surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, and to implement decisions related to policy-making bodies in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Security Council.
The Evaluation, Declaration, and Publication Team for the Destruction of Weapons of Mass Destruction (DAT) was established in 2014 with the aim of engaging Syrian authorities to address the gaps and inconsistencies identified by the Technical Secretariat in Syria’s initial declaration (2013) of its chemical weapons program (following the chemical attack on Ghouta in the Damascus countryside in 2013), and the unit regularly provides reports to the member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and other international bodies.
Furthermore, the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) affiliated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was established in the same year in response to ongoing allegations of chemical weapon attacks in Syria, with the mission of establishing the facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals for hostile purposes. The Investigation and Identification Team affiliated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons began its work in 2019 and is responsible for identifying perpetrators of chemical weapon use in Syria.
Under Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention, member states (193 countries) have the right to participate in the exchange of equipment, materials, scientific and technological information related to protection against chemical weapons, and to fully exchange this information possible.
According to a statement from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on May 15, 2024, the Canadian government remains firmly committed to cooperation with the OPCW and its support for preventing all types of global chemical weapons threats, their detection, and response.
Canada has provided approximately 50 million Canadian dollars as a voluntary contribution to the OPCW to support the destruction, verification, monitoring, training, and investigation of chemical weapons through the “Weapons Threat Reduction Program” (WTRP).
Canada has been an active member of the OPCW since the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. It is a member of the Executive Council, the executive body of the OPCW responsible for promoting the effective implementation and compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, as well as overseeing the activities of the OPCW Technical Secretariat.
On April 24, 2024, the OPCW expressed skepticism about the Syrian government’s declaration of its disposal of its chemical weapons program and indicated concerns about ongoing developments of chemical weapons in Syria, despite the OPCW’s announcement in 2023 that all declared chemical weapons stocks had been irreversibly destroyed under its rigorous verification regime.
The Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS) emphasizes the need for actual implementation and full compliance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibit the entire category of weapons of mass destruction, including banning the development, production, acquisition, storage, retention, transfer, or use of chemical weapons by States Parties.
The CVDCS also stresses the importance of holding all parties accountable for the use of chemical weapons for hostile purposes and ensuring justice for the victims and their families.
canada chemical_weapons opcw syria
