The course is offered to the States Parties and Signatory States of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) mentioned in the DAC List of Aid Recipients, Part I, Developing Countries.
The courses are intended for qualified candidates from Member States with economies that are developing or in transition. In particular women are encouraged to apply for the course. The program is intended for persons who are or are going to be involved with the National Authority to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The part of the training course concerning the National Authority (NA) familiarizes the trainees in annual practical routines of NA, including the inquiries made to the local industry and the declarations made to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The NA training also familiarizes the trainees in routines during inspections. The aim of the chemical database training is to introduce various databases and libraries which can be utilized for the verification tasks of the CWC. Training includes lectures as a self-study modules and practical exercises with computers.
The first aim of the National Authority (NA) training is to familiarize the trainees in annual practical routines of NA, including the inquiries made to the local industry to locate the declarable activities, questionnaires to collect national declarable activities and the declarations made to the OPCW. A training session of the latest version of the electronic declaration tool for National Authorities (EDIS) and introduction to the Secure Information Exchange (SIX) system for preparing and transmitting declarations to the OPCW is included in the course program.
The second aim of NA training is to familiarize the trainees in routines for receiving and escorting OPCW inspections.
The third aim of NA training is to familiarize the trainees in legislative issues required for national implementation of the CWC.
The aim of the chemical database training is to introduce various databases and libraries which can be utilized for the verification tasks of the CWC. Training includes lectures and practical exercises with computers.
The program is organized by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, VERIFIN. The practical conduct of the course is assisted by experts from the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW.
The Organizers will provide, according to their established rules, free of charge:
- Travel costs from home country to Helsinki and return (airline tickets to the closest airfield only!);
- Travel costs within Finland when directly connected with the program (excluding daily commuting in Helsinki);
- Accommodation in Helsinki;
- Daily allowances to cover meals and other every day running costs. In 2023, this allowance is EURO 45 (approx. USD 48).
- Training material, exercises
The financial conditions apply to the participant only. If members of his/her family follow, all the
costs incurred and visa arrangements will have to be covered by the participant of the sending
government
All the candidates for the Training Course on National Authority and Chemical Databases should have
- Good working knowledge of the English language as all the work during the course will be conducted in English;
- Priority will be given to applicants that have or will have an affiliation to the National Authority to the CWC;
- Experience in administrative issues concerning chemicals;
- Practical experience with computers and the Microsoft Windows environment.
- Internet connection for downloading the materials and for communication via e-mail
Training Course on National Authority and Databases: August 21-30, 2023
Main subjects
- National Authority (NA) (4 days)
- Duties of the NA, declarations, inspections, legislative issues, Chemical databases, OPCW database, and Internet (4 days)
The OPCW experts provide general lectures on the CWC, legislative issues, EDIS and SIX in the NA part of the program.
Training course related e-mails should be sent to harri.kiljunen@helsinki.fi and harri.a.heikkinen@helsinki.fi
The invited governments are requested to present their candidates by providing the following information, in English, directly to VERIFIN:
- Filled in application form (Annex I) with the approval by an official body (Government, Ministry, National Authority);
- a CV in free form (mandatory): professional career, details of academic and scientific work, description of previous and current activities related to National Authority.
Applications without valid contact information are not taken into consideration. The applications have to be sent by e-mail or mail directly to VERIFIN.
The selected participants will be contacted directly by VERIFIN and more detailed information on the training.
The applications should be presented before April 30, 2023.
It is the wish of the organizers to select sixteen (16) participants from as many different countries. However, if this cannot be achieved, more than one participant from a same country will be considered.
There is no limitation to the number of candidates to be presented by one country. However, in the case of more than one presented candidate per country, the order of preference of the candidates should be clearly stated.
The selection of participants for the Training Course on National Authority and Chemical Databases will be made after the end of April and the selected participants will be informed on their selection during May 2023 by e-mail. Names of the selected participants are presented on VERIFIN’s website after selection has been made.
The organizers expect that the selected participants will confirm duly their participation by contacting VERIFIN immediately after receiving the e-mail.