The Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, at its 20th Session, decided that a memorial Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare would be observed on 30 November each year or, when appropriate, on the first day of the regular session of the Conference. The history of the serious efforts to achieve chemical disarmament that culminated in the conclusion of the Chemical Weapons Convention began more than a century ago. Chemical weapons were used on a massive scale during World War I, resulting in more than 100,000 fatalities and a million casualties. However, chemical weapons were not used on the battleground in Europe in World War II. Following World War II, and with the advent of the nuclear debate, several countries gradually came to the realisation that the marginal value of having chemical weapons in their arsenals was limited, while the threat posed by the availability and proliferation of such weapons made a comprehensive ban desirable. Adopted in 1993, the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997. It determined, “for the sake of all mankind, to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons.” (Preamble)

FORUM: International Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare 2020.

This commemoration provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of chemical warfare, as well as to reaffirm the commitment of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the elimination of the threat of chemical weapons, thereby promoting the goals of peace, security, and multilateralism.

Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Chemical Warfare 2020; November 30th.

More than one hundred years after the first large-scale use of chemical weapons in battle, they continue to inflict terror, suffering and death.

Recent years have seen the erosion of the taboo against chemical weapons, threatening the disarmament and non-proliferation regimes.

The use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone, under any circumstances, is intolerable and a serious violation of international law.

Impunity for their use is unacceptable.

There can be no justification for the use of these abhorrent weapons. We must remain united and determined in preventing their use, or the threat of their use. We cannot allow ourselves to become inured.

It is imperative that those who use, or have used, chemical weapons are identified and held accountable. That is the only way to meet our moral responsibility to the victims of chemical warfare.

The Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare is an occasion to pay tribute to the victims of these inhumane weapons, to assess our progress in preventing any future use, and to renew our determination to eliminate them from our world.

Today, let us renew our unequivocal commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and our support to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Let us honour the victims of chemical warfare by pledging to consign these dreadful weapons to the pages of history.

The Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare is an occasion to pay tribute to the victims of these inhumane weapons, to assess our progress in preventing any future use, and to renew our determination to eliminate them from our world.

António Guterres; U.N. Secretary-General.

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