The first three days of compliance and verification debate at the Biological Weapon Convention (BWC) Working Group in December 2023 were productive, but many States Parties seemed still to be in the “early stages of conceptual thinking” regarding BWC verification, with differing views on its focus and function among other things. For meaningful progress to be made towards developing an appropriate mechanism that accommodates the interests of all BWC States Parties, they will require a shared conceptual understanding of verification’s scope and purpose in the context of the BWC.
This report provides conceptual insights on verification ahead of the BWC Working Group meetings in December 2024. It presents the perspectives of four experts—Dr Ajey Lele (India), Dr Jeremy Littlewood (Canada), Dr Anastasia Malygina (Russian Federation), and Mr Matthew Shearer (United States)—each of whom was invited to respond to three key questions:
- What do you understand by the term BWC verification?
- What is the purpose of BWC verification?
- And what do we want to verify?
This report reflects the views of the respective expert and is intended to provide food for thought on the focus and function of BWC verification.
Citation: Ajey Lele, Jeremy Littlewood, Anastasia Malygina and Matthew P. Shearer. 2024. The Focus and Function of BWC Verification. UNIDIR, Geneva. https://doi.org/10.37559/WMD/24/CBW/04
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