December 3, 2010

Laura Kennedy, the United States Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, has been named as the U.S. Special Representative for Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) Issues. Amb. Kennedy will serve in these two capacities concurrently, and as BWC Special Representative will report to the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), the Department of State’s lead bureau on BWC issues. Her critical task as Special Representative will be to conduct the multilateral diplomacy leading up to the December 2011 five-year Review Conference for the BWC, and to lead U.S. efforts at the Conference itself. The U.S. National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats, released in November 2009, sees the BWC as the premier forum for members of the security, health, and scientific communities to come together to better understand and raise awareness of evolving biological risks and cooperate in the development, coordination, and implementation of practices for biological risk management.

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