Mrs Nadjeh Baaziz Diplomatic Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Algeria

1. CAPACITY-BUILDING PROJECT FOR NORTH AFRICAN STATES PARTIESunder the European Union Joint Action on Support for OPCW Activities Mrs Nadjeh Baaziz Diplomatic Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Algeria

2. Main Objectives- Help Member States develop/improve national and regional response systems against chemical weapons and national protection programmes; - Training of first responders and experts from relevant national agencies;- Establishment of effectively functioning regional protection network and core response team; - Provision and dissemination of information in the field of protection against chemical weapons. Beneficiary countries:Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia Following 7 events planned for the whole duration: - 1 planning meeting • 4 basic/advance/specialised courses • 1 regional exercise • 1 evaluation meeting

3. Overview of completed activities • Planning Meeting, 26-27 April 2007, The Hague - 16 participants Purpose: provide Member States with information about the project plan; conditions for engagement and discuss the programme, needs and requirements for the conduct of the project. • Basic practical course, 11-15 June 2007, Krusevac, Serbia – 21 part. Purpose/content: introduction to chemical threats; toxic chemical agents and effects; medical effects; CW protection; detection and identification; and decontamination. Participants were issued individual protective equipment and underwent some training on donning and doffing of the IPE. • Advanced practical course, 18-22 June 2007, Krusevac, Serbia – 21 part. Purpose/content: elaborating on the contents of the basic course with emphasis on practical work and field rehearsal. Course was concluded with a field exercise.

4. Overview of completed activities (cont.) • Specialised Live agent training, 16-21 September 2007, Zemianske Kostolany, Slovakia – 19 participants Purpose: provide the participants with an opportunity to work with Schedule 1 chemicals • Emergency response training course, 3-7 March 2008, Kenitra, Morocco – 27 participants and observers Purpose/content: provide training on response in case of release of chemical warfare agents or other toxic chemicals, including issues of protection of civil population; rescue activities; mass casualty decontamination; activities in the contaminated areas, etc.

5. Achievements, lessons learned and recommendations • Specialists from North African States Parties received training (basic, advanced and specialised) by initially focusing on the training of an individual, followed by training of a team; • A core group of 20 experts was formed; • Training courses contributed to the personal development, as well as development of their knowledge on protection, detection, decontamination, reconnaissance, sampling and work with scheduled chemicals; • Project helped countries to review/improve their national protection programmes; • The project gave an opportunity to exchange information on national response systems of countries and share own experience in this filed;

6. Achievements, lessons learned and recommendations (cont.) • Some protection equipment was provided to team members; • Contacts were established among specialists from relevant agencies of 4 participating countries; • It is encouraged to continue such efforts and organise similar projects for other regions • The project demonstrated good cooperation among all actors of the project: OPCW, EU, beneficiary and supporting countries; • Commitment of participating countries to full implementation of Article X of CWC; • National enforcement measures to address security incidents.