Preserving and enhancing the OPCW’s role in the global fight against terrorism.

In order to preserve and enhance the OPCW’s role in the global fight against terrorism, the Organisation should:

 • Monitor and further adapt to the evolving international security environment, especially with respect to the threat of chemical terrorism. This will likely require the OPCW to gradually adjust its approach to the threat or use of CW by terrorist groups, depending on their acquisition and use strategies as well as the technological sophistication with which they pursue a chemical weapons capability.

 • Continue the regular exchanges and expand interagency coordination with the UN and other international organizations in order to be able to respond swiftly to changes in the international security environment, as they pertain to terrorist acquisition and use of CW. This may also require a repositioning and redefinition of the OPCW’s role vis-à-vis the UN and other international organizations in this context. 

• Regularize and refine its approach to capacity building that balances specific, targeted programmatic activities with more complex ones, which often are project-based and rely on extrabudgetary funding. Tailor-made capacity building for State Parties has long formed a central part of the Technical Secretariat’s international cooperation and assistance work. This has addressed issues related to the legal accountability of non-state actors, prevention of and responses to CW terrorism. Such programmatic activities have also increasingly targeted specific stakeholders in State Parties, such as lawmakers, first responders, or customs officials. In contrast, both field exercises and table top exercises have been conducted on a more ad hoc basis and have been reliant on the availability of extra-budgetary resources for such exercises. The recent CHEMEX Africa and Table-Top Exercise conducted under the auspices of the OEWG-T are cases in point as they have been funded by Canada and the European Union, respectively. Complex, scenario-based exercises usually bring together different relevant stakeholders and as such form a useful addition to the tailor-made focused capacity building activities of the Organization. In order to be able to conduct such exercises on a more regular basis, they should be brought under the regular Programme and Budget of the Organization. 

• Expand cooperation with external stakeholders to bolster the OPCW’s leading role in the global fight against chemical terrorism. While the division of labour in the collaboration with other international organizations in the global fight against terrorism has been established over the past decade, the Organization could enhance its cooperation with and benefit from the expertise of civil society actors in this field.