Assistance and Capacity-building in the context of United Nations Security (UNSCR 1540), Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

The document summarizes the conclusions of a seminar held on 9 December 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, focused on assistance and capacity-building for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540, disarmament, and non-proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons in Africa.

• The African Union (AU) has identified several priority areas to enhance the implementation of UNSCR 1540, including the development of model legislation, harmonized export controls, training for national points of contact, and improving the assistance framework. The AU also emphasizes a balance between non-proliferation and development needs, specifically focusing on disarmament education and regional approaches.
• Effective national implementation of UNSCR 1540 is facilitated by the designation of national focal points and the submission of national reports to the 1540 Committee. However, challenges persist on the African continent, including insufficient human resources at the national level, poor coordination among agencies, and a significant number of states that have not yet submitted national reports more than ten years after the resolution's adoption.
• Capacity-building in the CBRN area is divided into 'soft' capacity-building, which involves legal, regulatory, and coordination mechanisms, and 'hard' capacity-building, which involves physical protection measures and the deployment of detection and analysis equipment.
• The EU-funded CBRN Centres of Excellence initiative employs a comprehensive approach of prevention, preparedness, and response. It has established eight regional secretariats, three of which are in Africa: the African Atlantic Façade, Eastern and Central Africa, and Northern Africa and Sahel. Between 2009 and 2013, the initiative funded 60 projects with a total budget of 109 million euros.
• As of the seminar date, 21 countries had prepared National CBRN action plans, with 9 of those being African nations: Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, the Seychelles, and Uganda.
• The 8th Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) resulted in a limited Intersessional Program for 2017-2020, which abandoned the mechanism of annual meetings of experts. While the mandate of the BWC-ISU was renewed, its staff levels were not increased, remaining at three individuals.
• The Institute for Security Studies (ISS), with Danish financial support, developed a directory of CBRN assistance and capacity-building programs for African states. The directory provides descriptions of activities, points of contact, and specific projects to support continental capacity-building.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2016). Assistance and Capacity-building in the context of United Nations Security (UNSCR 1540), Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-02-23-cbrn-report.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Assistance and Capacity-building in the context of United Nations Security (UNSCR 1540), Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. 2016. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-02-23-cbrn-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Assistance and Capacity-building in the context of United Nations Security (UNSCR 1540), Disarmament and Non-Proliferation |date=9 December 2016 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-02-23-cbrn-report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2016assistance, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Assistance and Capacity-building in the context of United Nations Security (UNSCR 1540), Disarmament and Non-Proliferation}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2016}, month = dec, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-02-23-cbrn-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }