GLOBAL GREEN USA AND ITS PARTNERS ORGANIZE ROUNDTABLE ON DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE BIOSECURITY REGIME

United Nations/Geneva Director-General To Host Event on November 8^th; BWC 6^th Review Conference President To Provide Keynote

October 13, 2006, Washington, DC – Green Cross International, and three of its national affiliates, Green Cross Switzerland, Green Cross Russia, and Global Green USA, will host an all-day roundtable discussion on “Developing a Comprehensive Biosecurity Regime.”  The event is sponsored by the United Nations Office at Geneva Director-General, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, and will take place in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday, November 8, 2006. The President of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Sixth Review Conference, Mr. Masood Khan of Pakistan, will provide a keynote address.

The roundtable discussion will bring together experts in the fields of biological safety and security, public health and disease surveillance, and biological weapons nonproliferation, as well as government representatives and officials from relevant United Nations agencies. 

The all-day meeting aims to provide a unique platform for international dialogue on effective and comprehensive approaches to global biosecurity, including a discussion on issues related to the BWC. The day will be organized around a few presentations, and a Chairman’s summary will be published within the week and made available to the BWC Review Conference which convenes two weeks later in Geneva (November 20-December 8).

The discussion will be off-the-record but open to press, and there will be a press briefing scheduled sometime during the day.  The working language will be English.

Green Cross International, and its affiliates, Green Cross Russia, Green Cross Switzerland, and Global Green USA, have over ten years of experience facilitating meetings and dialogues among all stakeholders in the ongoing threat reduction and nonproliferation process for weapons of mass destruction. The Green Cross/Global Green Legacy Program regularly facilitates high-level meetings in Moscow, Geneva, Washington DC, and elsewhere to promote global threat reduction.