On 50-Year Mark, Secretary-General Urges 9 States to Join Biological Weapons Convention

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the fiftieth anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention, today:

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.

Over the past five decades, the Convention has contributed towards collective efforts to reject the use of disease as a weapon.

However, we must remain vigilant.  Recent advances in biology hold great promise but also potential risks.  The Biological Weapons Convention helps to ensure that such advances are only used for peaceful purposes.

I urge all States parties to engage actively in the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Convention, and for the Group to accelerate its work so that it can fulfil its mandate in this anniversary year.  These efforts reinforce the commitment in the Pact for the Future, adopted at the United Nations last year, for all countries to pursue a world free of biological weapons.

Fifty years after its entry into force, the Biological Weapons Convention now has 188 States parties.  I call on the nine Governments that have not yet joined the Convention to do so without delay.  Together, let us stand united against biological weapons.