Côte d’Ivoire Hosts Inter-Parliamentary Union Seminar for African Lawmakers on Implementing Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004)

A seminar for African parliamentarians on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 22-23 February.  The seminar was organized jointly by the Parliament of Côte d’Ivoire and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in partnership with the 1540 Committee and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.

This is the first event that brought together parliamentarians from one continent to discuss the resolution’s implementation.  A total of 72 parliamentarians from 18 States participated in the meeting.

The 1540 Committee delegation was headed by member Isidor Marcel Sene (Senegal) and included one expert.

The meeting discussed, among other things, challenges related to the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Africa, as well as ways to strengthen national legal frameworks for the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).  During his opening remarks, Mr. Sene referred to the key function of legislators in developing and enacting the necessary legal framework to help prevent the potential consequences of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons falling into the hands of non-State actors, including terrorists.

Mr. Sene announced that the African Union Commission, in cooperation with the 1540 Committee, will hold a 1540 Review and Assistance Conference for African Union member States on 6-7 April in Addis Ababa.  This conference will analyse the assistance requests submitted by African States to the Committee to help further strengthen their capacity to implement resolution 1540 (2004).  The conference is expected to offer an opportunity for assistance providers to announce offers and direct responses to requests made by African Union States and to facilitate matchmaking through direct interaction.

Mr. Sene also briefed participants about the comprehensive review of the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), being carried out in accordance with resolution 1977 (2011), and shared some preliminary results relating to Africa.

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 requires all States to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of 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 the 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.

Further information is available at the 1540 Committee’s website at www.un.org/en/sc/1540/.