ISTC Deputy Executive Director Rashitdin Kokenov and Tajikistan Branch Office Director Azizakhon Haidarova participated in the National Workshop on Implementation of Confidence-Building Measures Under the Biological Weapons Convention in Dushanbe from October 1 through 3. Organized by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs with funding from the British Government, the event addressed implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in Tajikistan and preparation and benefits of confidence-building measures to strengthen response to possible use of biological weapons in Tajikistan, Central Asia and worldwide. Overall biosafety and biosecurity were also discussed by workshop attendees.

Deputy Chief of the Biological Weapons Convention Implementation Support Unit, Dr. Hermann Alex Lampalzer, played a lead role in the BWC event in Dushanbe with an overview presentation of workshop objectives and the agenda; an introduction to the BWC and BWC confidence-building measures; and, practical work with the new confidence-building platform. The ISTC’s Mr. Kokenov and Dr. Lampalzer administered a joint presentation on assistance available to address the threat of biological weapons at the bilateral, regional and international levels.

Biosafety and biosecurity experts from Hungary, Kazakhstan and Mongolia presented approaches about preparation of confidence-building measures in those countries and a breakout group addressed implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention in Tajikistan. A group exercise on the event agenda identified actions for preparing the 2025 Confidence-Building Report. ISTC appreciates the opportunity to play a lead role in the Biological Weapons Convention in Tajikistan as well as future discussions on national, regional and international biosafety and biosecurity.