Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
2013 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Introduction
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is an intergovernmental organization created in 1997 in order to uphold an arms control treaty known as the Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, or the Chemical Weapons Convention. Only four United Nations member states are not part of the OPCW—Israel, Egypt, Sudan, and North Korea; they have not ratified the CWC. The OPCW’s main purpose is to destroy existing chemical weapons and to monitor the chemical industry in order to prevent the creation of new weapons. Currently, the OPCW has destroyed …show more content…
The power of the weapons that the two countries possessed alone was enough to wipe out the human race.
Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. The use of these weapons caused about 100,000 casualties among Iranian troops, in which 20,000 died. Thousands of the soldiers suffer from chronic conditions after being exposed to the mustard gas and nerve gas. Iraq also used chemical weapons on the village of Halabja, killing 10% of the town’s population. This massacre led to the international effort to ban chemical weapons.
The idea of an international chemical weapons ban was considered within the Eighteen National Committee on Disarmament in 1968, which changed its name to the Conference of Disarmament in 1984. After the use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war and the possibility of their use in the Gulf War, the CD had an urgency to negotiate an intergovernmental chemical weapons ban. In 1992, the Conference of Disarmament its annual report to the U.N. General Assembly. The report contained the text of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was approved and eventually ratified by almost every country in the …show more content…
However, the OPCW is more than just that; it represents the capability for the entire human race to work together and promote peace.
In In the Time of the Butterflies, the Mirabal sisters also stand up to fight the injustice in the world. The sisters plotted a revolution against Trujillo’s regime because they believed that the regime was unethical and immoral. Even though the Mirabals themselves were unsuccessful, their courage and devotion allowed the rest of the people to stand up against injustice. The OPCW is similar in that way, as they have been successful in destroying most of the world’s stockpile of chemical weapons. Their success leads the way for world peace.
The success of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is important because it proves that achieving world peace is possible, even if people are separated by borders. The next step is to make sure that every country destroys all its chemical weapons and to ban the manufacturing of chemical weapons worldwide. Through this, it will be easier to eventually ban biological and nuclear weapons, and the human race will finally be able to fight together, not with each
2013 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Introduction
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is an intergovernmental organization created in 1997 in order to uphold an arms control treaty known as the Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, or the Chemical Weapons Convention. Only four United Nations member states are not part of the OPCW—Israel, Egypt, Sudan, and North Korea; they have not ratified the CWC. The OPCW’s main purpose is to destroy existing chemical weapons and to monitor the chemical industry in order to prevent the creation of new weapons. Currently, the OPCW has destroyed …show more content…
The power of the weapons that the two countries possessed alone was enough to wipe out the human race.
Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. The use of these weapons caused about 100,000 casualties among Iranian troops, in which 20,000 died. Thousands of the soldiers suffer from chronic conditions after being exposed to the mustard gas and nerve gas. Iraq also used chemical weapons on the village of Halabja, killing 10% of the town’s population. This massacre led to the international effort to ban chemical weapons.
The idea of an international chemical weapons ban was considered within the Eighteen National Committee on Disarmament in 1968, which changed its name to the Conference of Disarmament in 1984. After the use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war and the possibility of their use in the Gulf War, the CD had an urgency to negotiate an intergovernmental chemical weapons ban. In 1992, the Conference of Disarmament its annual report to the U.N. General Assembly. The report contained the text of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was approved and eventually ratified by almost every country in the …show more content…
However, the OPCW is more than just that; it represents the capability for the entire human race to work together and promote peace.
In In the Time of the Butterflies, the Mirabal sisters also stand up to fight the injustice in the world. The sisters plotted a revolution against Trujillo’s regime because they believed that the regime was unethical and immoral. Even though the Mirabals themselves were unsuccessful, their courage and devotion allowed the rest of the people to stand up against injustice. The OPCW is similar in that way, as they have been successful in destroying most of the world’s stockpile of chemical weapons. Their success leads the way for world peace.
The success of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is important because it proves that achieving world peace is possible, even if people are separated by borders. The next step is to make sure that every country destroys all its chemical weapons and to ban the manufacturing of chemical weapons worldwide. Through this, it will be easier to eventually ban biological and nuclear weapons, and the human race will finally be able to fight together, not with each