Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is an international organization that implements the Chemical Weapons Convention and verifies states’ compliance with its obligations.

Chemical Weapons Convention: A multilateral treaty prohibiting chemical weapons and requiring their destruction, nonproliferation, and verification. The Convention supplies the legal obligations that the OPCW administers and verifies.
Chemical Weapons Convention negotiations: The multilateral negotiations that produced the Chemical Weapons Convention, concluded in 1992. Those negotiations created the treaty framework the OPCW was established to implement.
Fernando Arias: A Spanish diplomat who served as Director-General of the OPCW from 2018 to 2023. His tenure included major investigations and the launch of the organization’s new attribution function.
Syrian chemical weapons disarmament: The internationally supervised removal and destruction of Syria’s declared chemical-weapons stockpile beginning in 2013. The OPCW coordinated verification under unusually urgent and dangerous conditions.
Chemical disarmament: The reduction or elimination of chemical weapons through treaties, destruction programs, and verification. The OPCW is the main institutional mechanism for implementing chemical disarmament worldwide.
OPCW inspections: On-site inspections conducted by the OPCW to verify declarations, destruction, and compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. Inspections are the organization’s principal means of checking treaty obligations at facilities.
Conference on Disarmament: A multilateral forum in Geneva where states negotiate arms-control and disarmament agreements. The Convention was negotiated in this forum before the OPCW existed.
Ahmet Üzümcü: A Turkish diplomat who served as Director-General of the OPCW from 2010 to 2018. He led the organization during Syria’s chemical-weapons disarmament operation and its Nobel Peace Prize.
OPCW–UN Joint Mission in Syria: A joint OPCW–United Nations mission that oversaw the removal and destruction of Syria’s declared chemical-weapons program in 2013–2014. This temporary mission delivered the central phase of the Syrian disarmament operation.
Chemical weapons nonproliferation: Efforts to prevent the spread of chemical weapons, their precursors, and relevant production capabilities. The Convention and OPCW reduce risks of acquisition and assistance as well as eliminating stockpiles.

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