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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 096413 
 
SIPDIS 
JOINT STAFF FOR USAFRICOM 
GENEVA FOR BWC 
THE HAGUE FOR OPCW 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC KPAO PREL PTER UNSC XA KE
SUBJECT: PRE-INVITATION TO AFRICA REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON 
BIOSAFETY AND BIOSECURITY 
 
¶1.  This is an action request.  All addressees please see 
para 3; and USUN please see para 5. 
 
---------- 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2.  UNSCR 1540 obligates all UN Member States to develop and 
maintain "appropriate, effective" measures to improve their 
indigenous capacities to counter proliferation of weapons of 
mass destruction (WMD) and terrorist threats.  The resolution 
also established a Committee responsible for implementation 
(the Committee).  In 2008, the Security Council unanimously 
agreed to UNSCR 1810, renewing the Committee for an 
additional three years.  UNSCR 1810 also outlines funding 
mechanisms, including voluntary contributions such as those 
used in support of this workshop.  African countries to be 
invited include: Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, 
Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, 
Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Morocco, 
Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda. 
 
------------------------------- 
Workshop Pre-Invitation To Pass 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Action Request for all posts:  Please notify appropriate 
African and intergovernmental officials (such as IAEA) with 
policy responsibility for implementing USNCR 1540 of our 
commitment to sponsor the workshop.  Post should inform 
appropriate officials that handle participation in the UN, 
WMD proliferation, disarmament, and human and veterinary 
laboratory safety and security.  As we go forward, we are 
interested in African states' views and cooperation.  (NOTE 
for Pretoria only: We are particularly interested in South 
African participation and views as they were a former 
Security Council Member and have advocated often that UNSCR 
1540 had no tangible benefit for African States.  We view 
South African support as crucial to gaining broader regional 
cooperation.  End note.)  Our intent is to coordinate early 
and up front with potential participants and appropriate 
organizations.  The points below are general background on 
the workshop pre-invitation and are to be left as a non-paper. 
 
¶4. Begin non-paper: 
 
-- The African Biosafety and Biosecurity Workshop on the 
implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 
will be held February 2-4, 2010 in Nairobi, hosted by the 
Government of Kenya with support from the United States (with 
funding from the Export Control and Related Border Security 
program) and in cooperation with the Committee established 
pursuant to UNSCR 1540 (the Committee) and the UN Office of 
Disarmament Affairs.  The USG will welcome other 
contributions and ideas, and will fund expenses for African 
participants.  Each participating state will be invited to 
send three participants total, drawn from the appropriate 
 
STATE 00096413  002 OF 003 
 
 
agencies. 
 
-- The workshop will assist participants to create potential 
components of their national implementation plans and in 
mapping out their priorities for implementing UNSCR 1540, 
particularly in the area of biosecurity.  Through the 
effective use of the 1540 Technical Assistance Template, 
specific regional and international sources of technical 
support will participate and be identified in the workshop 
agenda.  The workshop will highlight the value of full 
implementation of UNSCR 1540, which the UNSC unanimously 
adopted on April 28, 2004 under Chapter VII of the UN 
Charter. 
 
-- Although the resolution contains broad obligations on all 
States to take a series of measures to prevent the 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their 
means of delivery, and related materials to non-state actors, 
the primary purpose of the workshop is to promote 
capacity-building to advance full implementation of UNSCR 
¶1540.  We hope to improve cooperative implementation of UNSCR 
1540 by identifying ways that African states can share 
experience and develop such items as their own national 
implementation plans, as suggested in UNSCR 1810 (which 
extended the work of the Committee until April 2011) and by 
the Committee Report of July 8, 2008.  Presenters will also 
share pertinent information on lessons learned based on the 
activities of the Committee. 
 
-- As with other recent USG-funded UNSCR 1540 outreach 
events, including the workshops for South Asian and Caribbean 
countries, this workshop will engage countries on a regional 
basis and will include African Union members with particular 
interest in biosafety and security as a means to ensure 
continent-wide participation.  A set of additional documents 
for the meeting will follow shortly.  The workshop organizers 
will place the invitation documents on a dedicated website 
for downloading and announce their availability through 
Posts.  The set will include the invitation to the workshop, 
tentative program, and administrative information.  Further 
general information on UNSCR 1540 is available at 
http://www.un.org/sc/1540. 
 
End non-paper. 
 
¶5.  Action request for USUN: Please pass the following 
information at the next Committee meeting as well as via Note 
Verbale.  The information in Para 4 above may be shared by 
Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) with African 
delegations in New York, if asked. 
 
Begin text 
 
As previously announced, the United States will provide its 
next in-kind contribution to complement regional UNSCR 1540 
workshops at an upcoming workshop in 2010.  The U.S. 1540 
Coordinator, along with U.S.'s Sandia National Laboratories 
(SNL), is coordinating with the UNSCR 1540 Committee Panel of 
Experts and the UNODA, along with other U.S. agencies 
involved with UNSCR 1540 implementation, effective workshop 
topics and locales that complement overall activities.  In 
coordination with the Committee, the U.S. government will 
 
STATE 00096413  003 OF 003 
 
 
cooperate with partners to plan and organize a 
biosciences-focused UNSCR 1540 implementation regional 
workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, February 2-4, 2010 for African 
states. 
 
This announcement is to provide early notification for 
planning and selected participation by UNODA and the 
Committee, as well as the Panel of Experts.  We will make all 
logistical arrangements for the workshop (e.g., venue, 
audiovisual support, language services) and fund selected 
participant travel from African countries, including lodging 
and per diem. 
 
A set of additional documents for the meeting will follow 
shortly.  The workshop organizers will place the invitation 
documents on a dedicated website for downloading and announce 
their availability through our Embassies.  We welcome any and 
all suggestions from other Committee members as well as 
invited states and other participants to guarantee an 
effective outcome that complements ongoing outreach. 
 
End text. 
 
¶6.  Reporting deadline: Responses should be sent NLT October 
¶5.  Posts are requested to provide an e-mail and telephone 
contact both in the capital and at Embassy to best facilitate 
logistical coordination with SNL. 
 
¶7.  POC is U.S. 1540 Coordinator Thomas A. Wuchte, at 
202-736-4275 and wuchteta@state.gov. 
 
¶8.  Washington appreciates Posts' ongoing support. 
CLINTON