Swiss Pledge €200K to Boost OPCW Efforts in Syria
The Government of Switzerland has voluntarily contributed €200,000 to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The contribution will support Syria-related missions and activities carried out by the OPCW Technical Secretariat. Its objectives include establishing the full scope of Syria's chemical weapons programme, verifying all declarable elements, supporting the development and implementation of a destruction plan, and investigating allegations of chemical weapons use, including the identification of those responsible. The project also contributes to broader efforts to verify compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 29 January 2026 in a signing ceremony held between the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Swiss Confederation to the OPCW, H.E. Mrs Corinne Cicéron Bühler, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, at the Organisation's Headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Cicéron Bühler stated: "The OPCW now has a historic opportunity to resolve all outstanding issues surrounding the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The OPCW's work, however, does not end with the destruction of all chemical weapons and their remnants, but includes the investigation and identification of those responsible for chemical weapons use."
"To achieve this monumental task, the OPCW requires the consolidated support of all its member states. Switzerland is therefore very pleased to announce its voluntary contribution of EUR 200 000 to the Trust Fund for Syria. This amount adds to previous contributions totalling approximately EUR 2 million made in the last years, underlining our commitment to accountability and a world free of chemical weapons," she highlighted.
Director-General Arias said: "I would like to thank Switzerland for this important contribution, which underscores its commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and to the work of the OPCW. Continued international support is essential to advancing efforts on closing the Syrian chemical weapons dossier, a matter of fundamental importance to international peace and security."
Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 under a stringent verification regime. While Syria submitted an initial declaration of its chemical weapons (CW) programme, the former Syrian government did not declare all its CW programme and attempted - unsuccessfully - to mislead the international community about the overall scope and scale of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Furthermore, the Technical Secretariat documented and independently confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria both by the former Syrian military forces and by non-state actors, specifically ISIS/ISIL.
The fall of the Assad government in December 2024 created an opportunity to uncover the full scope of Syria's chemical weapons programme and to eliminate it in line with the CWC. In February 2025, the OPCW Director-General visited Syria and held separate meetings with the Syrian President and Foreign Minister. They expressed Syria's recognition of all OPCW mandates, including the identification of perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria and reaffirmed Syria's full commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the CWC. In March 2025, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited the OPCW and addressed the Executive Council, where he renewed Syria's commitment to the Convention.
Since the visit by the Director-General to Damascus in February 2025, the OPCW Technical Secretariat deployed several times to Syria, involving visits to suspected locations, sampling, interviews, collection of documents related to Syria's chemical weapons programme, and coordination.
Since November 2025, OPCW has re-established a continuous presence in Syria to facilitate upcoming inventory, destruction and verification-related activities. The work related to the Syrian chemical weapons dossier - verification of declarations and investigation of use of toxic chemicals as weapons - is now coordinated by the OPCW Office of Special Missions.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention's entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 - totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents - have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW's strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2026/02/switzerland-contributes-eu200000-strengthen-opcw-activities-syria
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