The Qatar National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons and Georgetown SFS-Qatar Host Workshop on Weapons of Mass Destruction

Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q), together with Qatar’s National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW), hosted a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Awareness Workshop for university students on Thursday, March 15th at its campus in Education City.

Held under the auspices of HE, the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces, Major General Hamad bin Ali Al-Attiyah, the first university student-focused workshop was geared at creating awareness on international conventions surrounding WMD including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

In four interconnected sessions, students of participating universities were equipped with information about the types of WMDs, the role of NCPW as a representative body of Qatar in the field of the global WMD disarmament movement, and briefed on existing opportunities for students to work with the NCPW.

SFS-Q Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kai-Henrik Barth welcomed the audience and thanked all the myriad stakeholders who made such an innovative event possible.

Dr. Barth said: “Nearly 20,000 nuclear warheads still exist in the world today, each with the power to obliterate a significant portion of any major metropolis. Biological and chemical weapons, while less frequently in the news and less destructive than nuclear weapons, also pose major security challenges. Despite near universal compliance with relevant conventions and treaties, there are still some countries that have not committed to this nonproliferation regime.”

Although SFS-Q played a leading role in the success of the event, other institutions, including Qatar Foundation, Qatar University, College of the North Atlantic, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Northwestern University in Qatar and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, all partnered towards its success as well.

The first session of the workshop was led by NCPW chairman, HE Brigadier (Pilot) Nasser bin Mohammed Al-Ali, who welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of the workshop as a model of raising awareness about WMD.

Brig Al-Ali said: “By acquiring new knowledge, you are at an important stage of building your country. As the leaders of tomorrow we are looking forward to working with you in building a bright future, as well as leading you in the peaceful application of this newly-acquired knowledge. I would like here, to express my happiness in organizing this joint activity, which was the priority of our action plan. This is due to the necessity of cooperation and integration between universities and the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons, to cover the aspects of international conventions, leading to the implementation and achievement of their universality.”

NCPW vice-chairman, Colonel (Pilot) Hassan Saleh Al-Nesf then presented a lecture on “The Objectives and Achievement of the NCPW.”“Our scope of work ranges from providing advice to relevant ministries and government bodies on prohibition of all forms of weapons to revising national legislation and inspection and monitoring,” noted Col Al-Nesf, as he explained the history and mandates of NCPW.

“Thank God, Qatar took strong steps in the field of WMD, and I am proud to say that we are more advanced than other GCC countries,” added Col Al-Nesf.

A panel session followed featuring presentations on the international conventions related to the prohibition of WMD and the role of the NCPW in cooperation with other organizations. The workshop also featured parallel discussion sessions and a panel debate about WMD conventions and their significance to the NCPW and the State of Qatar.

The event concluded with NCPW’s Brig Al-Ali thanking the representatives of the participating universities and members of the NCPW for their efforts as he and Georgetown SFS-Q Dean Nonneman presented gifts and certificates to participating students.