page_title: 2013 Nobel Peace Prize
section_title: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
hierarchical_section_title: 2013 Nobel Peace Prize / Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
context_page_description: The 2013 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, for their "extensive work to eliminate chemical weapons". The award citation indicated the organization was awarded the prize, because they “have defined the use of chemical weapons as taboo under international law. Recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons have again been put to use, have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons.” The committee criticized Russia and the United States for not meeting the extended deadline for destruction of its chemical weapons, and noted that certain countries "are still not members". The OPCW was the 22nd organization to be awarded the prize.
context_section_description: The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation, located in The Hague, Netherlands. The organisation promotes and verifies the adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibits the use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction. The organization was established on 29 April 1997, upon the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The verification consists both of evaluation of declarations by member states and on-site inspections. The principal body of the organization is the "conference of states parties", which normally is convened yearly. The Executive Council is the executive organ of the organisation and consists of 41 States Parties. The "Technical Secretariat" applies most of the activities mandated by the Council and is the body where most of the employees of the organisation work. Ahmet Üzümcü is Director-General of the OPCW.
  All 190 parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention are automatically members of the OPCW. Non-members are Israel and Myanmar, which are signatory states that have not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, and Angola, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan, which have neither signed nor acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
caption: Members of the OPCW
         Members[11]             Non-Members