Burkina Faso Hosts Visit by Security Council’s 1540 Committee, 11-15 November

NEW YORK, 15 November 2013 (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — A delegation of the  Security Council’s 1540 Committee wrapped up its five-day visit to Burkina Faso today, at the invitation of the Government.

Sophie Nzeyimana, from the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the United Nations and current member of the 1540 Committee, led the delegation, which included experts supporting the Committee’s work.

The objectives of the visit included raising awareness and sharing information on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), identifying possible assistance needs and any future steps to be undertaken by Burkina Faso in support of implementation.

The delegation met with high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, and held working sessions with various national stakeholders involved in the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).  It held bilateral consultations with the President of the Financial Intelligence Unit.

In Ouagadougou, the delegation visited the CTBTO (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization) National Data Centre and the Nuclear Medicine Unit of the Yalgado Ouedraogo hospital.

In Bobo-Dioulasso, the delegation also undertook a visit to the Health Sciences Research Institute, the International Centre of Research and Development on livestock living in semi-humid zones and the Pan African Project for the eradication of the tsetse fly.

Resolution 1540 (2004) was adopted unanimously by the Security Council, under the United Nations Charter’s Chapter VII, on 28 April 2004.  It obliges all States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors attempting to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.  The resolution also requires all States to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of those weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials.

The 1540 Committee, a subsidiary body of the Council, reports to it on implementation of the resolution.  On 20 April 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1977 (2011), by which it extended the Committee’s mandate until 2021.

For additional information about the 1540 Committee, please visit the website at http://www.un.org/sc/1540/.

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For information media • not an official record