CHEMEX Africa is a two-week capacity building exercise during which African instructors train African first responders in a South-South collaboration.
More than 80 first responders from 32 African countries strengthened their knowledge and skills required to manage and respond to complex chemical emergencies during the training from 23 September to 5 October 2023. The training was organised by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in close cooperation with the government of Algeria and with financial support from the government of Canada.
Participants received rigorous training in:
- identifying toxic industrial chemicals and chemical weapons agents;
- decontamination procedures;
- detection and sampling techniques;
- proper use of personal protective equipment;
- incident commands.
Participants included civilian and military first responders in civil defence fire and rescue services, police, military, hazardous materials teams, and medical professionals. Exercise instructors were previously trained through the OPCW Africa Programme, which is designed to strengthen cooperation with Africa on implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention.
CHEMEX was designed to expand national capacity in assistance and protection, one of the key provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and to enhance regional capabilities in Africa to protect from and respond to incidents involving toxic chemicals.
CHEMEX will allow the OPCW and participating countries to evaluate and analyse existing gaps in chemical emergency response capabilities in Africa. The outcome of this analysis will be used as a basis to build up and improve national programmes for protective purposes. In addition, it will allow the OPCW to further fine-tune the capacity building support it provides to its Member States in Africa and beyond.
Chemex Africa 2023 ([ Ссылка ])
