For immediate release – Thursday, December 9, 2004
The BioWeapons Prevention Project (BWPP), an international non-governmental organization that works to strengthen the norm against using disease as a weapon, released the First Edition of its BioWeapons Report today at the 2004 Meeting of States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in Geneva, Switzerland. The report is available on the BWPP website.
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is among the more than 30 partners participating in the BWPP, which is supporting and expanding a global network of civil society organizations deeply concerned about the biological weapons threat and committed to developing ideas and advocating for local, national and global efforts to reduce this threat.
“The report clearly explains the dangers posed by both traditional and potentially new biological weapons, and describes some of the many steps governments can and should take to reduce the threat,” said Alan Pearson, Director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center. “It makes clear that governments must undertake serious efforts now to prevent the proliferation of these weapons.”
Among its activities, the BWPP monitors political, societal, scientific and technological developments with possible implications for the use of disease as a weapon. It also monitors threat reduction efforts undertaken by governments and other entities, including the implementation of the legal and political obligations of States under the BTWC and other relevant international agreements.
The BWPP also aims to raise awareness among civil society organizations, the media and the public about the bioweapons threat and about efforts they can take to reduce the threat by making complex issues accessible to non-specialized audiences through its publications.
The first edition of the BioWeapons Report serves these purposes. It includes chapters, written for a lay audience by partner organizations themselves.
