Why in news ?
A conference has been called by the United Kingdom, USA and the West to discuss upholding the global ban against the use of chemical weapons. UK has also proposed to consider empowering the OPCW to identify the organisation or government responsible for chemical attacks in addition to its existing power of carrying out the investigation into such cases.
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
The OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) is a 193 member intergovernmental organisation based on The Hague, Netherlands. The organisation is tasked with oversees and prohibit chemical weapons proliferation and permanent elimination of them.
OPCW is also implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997. Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the use of chemical weapons by evaluation of member states's declarations and requires their destruction by on site inspection.
2013 Nobel Peace Prize was also awarded to OPCW for keeping the world safe from chemical weapons.
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