Overview
The 2015 Meeting of States Parties was held in the Palais des Nations from 14 to 18 December 2015. The meeting opened at 10:00 on Monday 14 December in Room XVIII and closed on Friday 18 December.
The Meeting of States Parties was chaired by Ambassador Mazlan Muhammad of Malaysia. In accordance with the decision of the Seventh Review Conference, the meeting considered the work of theMeeting of Experts (10 - 14 August 2015) on the three standing agenda items (cooperation and assistance, with a particular focus on strengthening cooperation and assistance under Article X; review of developments in the field of science and technology related to the Convention; and strengthening national implementation), as well as the biennial item of how to strengthen implementation of Article VII.
The Meeting also approved arrangements for the Eighth Review Conference and its Preparatory Committee which will take place in 2016.
Information in the following sections will be updated as it becomes available.
Side Events
Monday 14 December
13.00 - 15.00 Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and US National Academies of Sciences - Implementation in Action: Contributions of ASEAN Scientists and Scientific Organizations to the BWC - Room XXIV - The flyer can be found here.
The list of ASEAN Region participants can be found here.
- Presentation: Overview of the development of Life Sciences in ASEAN and relevance of biosecurity awareness
- Presentation on Implementation in Action: Contributions of ASEAN Scientists and Scientific Organizations to the BWC by Abhi Veerakumarasivam and Edith Sangalang Tria
Tuesday 15 December
9.00 - 10.00 The Hamburg Research Group and the Harvard Sussex Programme - Let's talk about compliance: measures, methods, and modalities - Room XXIV - The flyer can be found here
- Presentation on The BTWC: Who Complies with What? by Dr Jean Pascal Zanders
- Presentation on Estimating the Costs of Compliance Options by James Revill & Caitríona McLeish
- Presentation on Technical Means with Relevance for Compliance - The Role of Open Source Information by Gunnar Jeremias & Mirko Himmel
9.00 - 10.00 Bradford University, UK - Steps Toward Effective Biological Security Education - Room XXV - The flyer with the key messages of the presentations can be found here
- Introductory remarks by Ambassador Matthew Rowland (UK)
- Book launch: Preventing Biological Threats: What You Can Do by Simon Whitby
- Book launch: Biological Security Education Handbook: The Power of Team-Based Learning by Tatyana Novossiolova
- Presentation on IFBA Certification Programme by Maureen Ellis
13.00 - 15.00 Canada - National implementation of the BWC: development of a culture of compliance among scientists - Room XXIV
13.00 - 15.00 UNIDIR and France - 1925–2015: The Geneva Protocol at 90 - Room XXV - The flyer can be found here
- Presentation on The Geneva Protocol and the BWC - Some Notes from History by Caitriona McLeish
- Presentation on The Geneva Protocol at 90 - A Biological Cornerstone of the Rules of War by Filippa Lentzos
Wednesday 16 December
9.00 - 10.00 Switzerland - Strengthening the UNSGM: an update - Room XXIV
- Presentation on UNSGM Designated Laboratories, Workshop in Spiez, Switzerland by Cédric Invernizzi
9.00 - 10.00 The Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative - Assessing the Biothreat, Proceeding Safely - Room XXV - The flyer can be found here
- Presentation on Assessing the Biological Threat: A Delphi Study by Crystal Boddie
- Presentation on Pursuing biological advances, safely by Gigi Kwik Gronvall
- Presentation on Biological Threat Perceptions Among International Experts by Amanda Moodie
13.00 - 15.00 Royal Society and International Academy Panel - Trends in science and technology that impact the BWC - Room XXIV
- Presentation on Trends in Science and Technology Relevant to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention by Rod Flower
- Presentation on Implications for the BWC from Microbial Forensics by Alemka Markotić
- Presentation on Synthetic Biology – Trends and Updates by Paul Freemont
- IAP reports on "The BTWC: Implications of advances in science and technology", a non-technical conference report, an executive summary, and a longer technical report
13.00 - 15.00 UNICRI and the Philippines - Putting Biosafety and Biosecurity under the Microscope: Elements for an International Approach to Reinforce Capabilities and Address Future Risks - Room XXV - The flyer can be found here
Thursday 17 December
9.00 - 10.00 The United States of America - Lessons Learned and Implications of the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak for the BWC: Update on Research Project to Inform Recommendations for the 8th Review Conference - Room XXIV - The flyer can be found here
- Presentation on Implications and Lessons Learned from Response to the Ebola – Virus Disease Outbreak for the BWC: Research Project to Inform Recommendations for the 8th Review Conference - by Dr. Rebecca Katz and Dr. Matthew Lim
9.00 - 10.00 France and India - Side event by France and India on the Proposal for establishment of a database for assistance in the framework of Article VII of the BWC - Room XXV
13.00 - 15.00 Green Cross International - Biosafety and Security: Laboratory Procedures and Personnel Ethics in Developing Countries - Room XXIV
- Side event Overview
- Presentation on Challenges in Latin America for Implementing a Biorisk Management Agenda by Leila Macedo
- Presentation on Biomedical Risk Management in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan: the Green Cross solution by Gasser Abrams
- Presentation on Closing the gap between biorisk policy and implementation: perspectives from the African continent by Louise Bezuidenhout
13.00 - 15.00 Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United States of America - BTWC BENELUX Peer Review: Lessons learned & presentation of new initiatives by Germany and the US/Canada - Room XXV - The flyer can be found here
Friday 18 December
9.00-10.00 Principal Investigator Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium (GET) - The West African Ebola story from an African academic response perspective. Biosecurity concerns, lessons learned relevant to the BWC and capacity building initiatives - Room XXV - The flyer can be found here
- Presentation on The Ebola Experience, Biosecurity and Capacity by Akin Abayomi
- ERW and survivor speech by Yusuf Koroma