The Fijian delegation attended the Meeting of States Parties on Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (Convention) which was held from the 03 to 06 December 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. Fiji signed the Convention in 1973 and ratified it through the Biological and Toxin Weapons Act 2011.
The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention is the first multilateral disarmament treaty prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, transfer, retention, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. There are 183 States Parties 4 Signatories and 14 non State Parties. In the Pacific, FSM, Tuvalu and Kiribati have undertaken ratification processes in their respective capital to become State Parties to the Convention.
Permanent Secretary for Defence and National Security, Mr Manasa Lesuma led the Fijian Delegation, accompanied by the Senior Defence Adviser Mr Joji W Dumukuro and First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Fiji, Geneva, Mr Vueti May.
Whilst addressing the Assembly in the general debate, Mr Lesuma reiterated that the region is confronted with a number of challenges in our implementation of the Convention, key of which is the existential threat of Climate Change, the single greatest issue facing the Pacific as it exacerbates the structural, economic, health, and the security of our region.
The Fijian delegation attended the Plenary sessions and side events including a bilateral meeting with the European Union, a key partner for technical support in advancing our Action Plan for the Convention in 2020.
The meeting of State Parties had focussed on the review of development platforms in the sphere of science and technology.
The delegation from the Ministry of Defence and National Security prior to this meeting, attended a day's session on 2nd session of the IAEA General Assembly at the Vienna UN Office.