Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the closure of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission

In connection with the closure of the OPCW-UN Joint Mission on 30 September 2014, the Secretary-General would like to express his deep gratitude to the Special Coordinator, Ms. Sigrid Kaag, as well as all the staff members from both the UN and the OPCW, who have worked under difficult and often dangerous conditions to complete the elimination of the declared chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Joint Mission has successfully conducted its work over the past twelve months under extremely challenging and complex circumstances.

The Secretary-General would also like to express his appreciation to the large number of Member States and organizations that had mobilized and contributed significant financial and in-kind contributions to support the work of the Joint Mission.

The Secretary-General would like to take this opportunity to stress the need for a world free of chemical weapons and reiterates his call upon those States that have not done so to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention.