The Role Of International Agreements And Organizations

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This report has already given substantial attention to the contributions that the work of international organizations, as well as the implementation of international agreements, is already making to support for biosecurity, and, in a number of cases, to education about d ual use issues.

Two organizations, the WHO and UNESCO, along with the processes related to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, stand out. WHO, through its studies of dual use issues, has provided an important international endorsement of their importance that takes them beyond the realm of "just" security. Its role in biosafety training is even more important for the future of education of a broad research community that includes laboratory technical personnel. So far the role of UNESCO has been relatively limited, though staff members from the organization have participated in a number of international meetings, including the Warsaw workshop. And the organization was a co-sponsor of a general workshop on dual use issues at the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2007. Given its longstanding support for science in the developing world and its many ...
... activities in both bioethics and broader science ethics, this is an organization that many participants hoped would become more engaged in the future.

One theme that emerged clearly in the discussions was the convening capacity of such organizations and the contributions that they can make to encouraging coordinated and sustained support from national governments. In addition, the upcoming BWC review conference in late 2011 was cited frequently as an example of opportunity to build upon the success of the 2005 and 2008 intersessional meetings and encourage broad support by member states for the initiatives cited in the reports of those meetings and at the 2006 review conference. The report of the 2008 BWC states parties meeting specifically offers an opening: States Parties are encouraged to inform the Seventh Review Conference of, inter alia, any actions, measures or other steps that they may have taken on the basis of the discussions at the 2008 Meeting of Experts and the outcome of the 2008 Meeting of States Parties, in order to facilitate the Seventh Review Conferences consideration of the work and outcome of these meetings and its decision on any further action, in accordance with the decision of the Sixth Review Conference.

Discussions are taking place among some of the organizations active in education about dual use issues about how best to take advantage of the review conference to garner further support and commitments from states parties.

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