A Norwegian Working Paper citing a TWAS science diplomacy programme workshop has been submitted to the Fifth Session of the Working Group on Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Commission (BWC).
The paper summarized the activities of what’s called the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. The acknowledgement recognizes the contribution of TWAS, its sister organization the InterAcademy Partnership, and fellow Trieste Science System member the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), in supporting the Implementation Support Unit of UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, which forms the core of the secretariat for the convention.
The paper reads: “From 4 to 8 March 2024, the BWC Implementation Support Unit, together with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), organized a joint capacity-building course on science diplomacy, biosecurity and virus detection in the framework of Article X in Trieste, Italy. This capacity-building course included an introduction to the BWC, as well as sessions on the relationship between science and diplomacy, biosecurity in low-resource settings and modern virus detection methods. The course was designed to enhance the promotion of biological sciences and technologies for peaceful purposes through South-South cooperation.”