Voluntary Fund for Assistance

To establish a voluntary fund for assistance, and to supervise and administer it4 ... 

The Conference shall establish at its first session the voluntary fund for assistance in accordance with Article X (Article VIII, subparagraph 21(j)) The Executive Council shall conclude agreements with States Parties on behalf of the Organisation in connection with Article X and supervise the voluntary fund referred to in Article X (Article VIII, subparagraph 34 (b)) and the Technical Secretariat shall administer the voluntary fund referred to in Article X (Article VIII, subparagraph 39(c)). 

Establish at its first session the voluntary fund for assistance in accordance with Article... 

This questionnaire has been prepared without prejudice to the rights of States Parties to conclude bilateral agreements with the OPCW in accordance with Article X, subparagraph 7(b) and to contribute to the Voluntary Fund for Assistance in accordance with Article X, subparagraph 7(a) [footnote in original],... 

C-I/DEC.52 adopted by the Conferenee of the States Parties at its First Session on May 1997 and entitled Voluntary Fund for Assistance ... 

Recalling that the Commission, as reflected in Article 6.10 of the [Draft] OPCW Financial Regulations, contained in PC-XIII/A/2 and Corr. 1, considered it appropriate that the Voluntary Fund for Assistance to be established in accordance with Article Vlll(21)0 and Article X(7)(a) of the Convention should be administered, unless otherwise provided by the Conference, in accordance with the applicable Financial Regulations,... 

Bearing in mind that the Commission recommended in paragraph 60.2 of its Final Report that the Conference adopt the same approach to the above-mentioned Voluntary Fund for Assistance,... 

Decides that the Voluntary Fund for Assistance shall be administered in accordance with the... 

Recalling further that the Executive Council, in subparagraph 16.8 of the Report of its Tenth Session (EC-X/2, dated 19 June 1998), requested the Technical Secretariat to convene an open-ended drafting group with experts of Member States to prepare draft guidelines for the operation of the Voluntary Fund for Assistance ... 

Having received and considered the Guidelines for the Use of Resources of the Voluntary Fund for Assistance of the OPCW submitted by the Technical Secretariat (annexed to this decision) ... 

GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF RESOURCES OF THE VOLUNTARY FUND FOR ASSISTANCE OF THE OPCW... 

The Voluntary Fund for Assistance was established by the Conference of the States Parties at its First Session, in accordance with subparagraph 21(j) of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Fund is to be administered in aeeordanee with subparagraph 39(c) of the same Article and with the applicable OPCW Financial Regulations (C-I/DEC.52, dated 16 May 1997). 

The Second Review Conference noted with appreciation the offers by States Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article X, of assistance in the event of the use or threat of use of chemical weapons, as well as national contributions to the voluntary fund for assistance, while also noting that the overall number of assistance offers, bilateral agreements, or contributions to the voluntary fund by States Parties stiU fall short of the requirements of Article X. 

Voluntary Contributions shall mean those resources, whether in cash or in kind, provided by donors to fund either the Voluntary Fund for Assistance or activities specified by the donor. 

The objective of the Voluntary Fund for Assistance shall be to coordinate and deliver assistance, in terms of Article X of the Convention, to a State Party when requested The Technical Secretariat shall ensure that assistance can be provided in an appropriate manner. 

The Voluntary Fund for Assistance shall be credited with voluntary contributions from States Parties, which shall be made in convertible currencies to the OPCW. The Director-General may accept contributions for credit to the Voluntary Fund for Assistance from other sources, inter alia non-govemmental organisations, institutions, private parties or individuals. The Director-General is authorised to accept contributions to the Voluntary Fund for Assistance under the following conditions ... 

The Director-General shall administer the Voluntary Fund for Assistance under the supervision of the Executive Council. At least once a year, the Director-General shall report to the Executive Council, for its review, on the status of the Voluntary Fund for Assistance. Such a review will cover the uses to which contributions have been applied and the adequacy of resources available. 

Monies accepted under Regulation 7.2 for purposes specified by the donor, except contributions to the Voluntary Fund for Assistance, shall be treated as trust funds under Regulation 6.8. 

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