South Sudan to join Chemical Weapons Convention

THE HAGUE, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan announced on Friday that it will become a State Party of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CCW) and join the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Moses M. Akol Ajawin, Director General for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan, made this remark at the 22nd Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

"We, in South Sudan, would unreservedly like to associate ourselves with the noble goals and objectives of this great organisation," said Akol Ajawin. "South Sudan has no reason to sit on the fence...and South Sudan looks forward to becoming the newest and youngest State Party."

OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu welcomed the anticipated accession of South Sudan to the Convention.

"Today, we are one step closer to universal membership. I urge the other nations that have yet to join the Convention, Egypt, Israel and North Korea, to unite with the rest of the world in eliminating all chemical weapons forever," he said.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. The Convention now has 192 States Parties.

Over 96 percent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. Enditem