1 July 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of the German Biosecurity Programme. Launched by the Federal Foreign Office as part of joint efforts of members of the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction to strengthen global biological security, the programme has carried out projects in more than 20 countries. Today, biological threat reduction measures are implemented by the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, the Robert-Koch-Institute, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, and the GIZ in 14 countries. In addition, two cross-regional projects (GIBACHT, GO4BSB) focus on training and capacity building of scientists and researchers on a wide range of biological security topics.
The German Biosecurity Programme has contributed significantly to the Global Partnership’s Biosecurity Deliverables: To secure and account for dangerous pathogens and toxins that represent biological proliferation risks, to develop and maintain appropriate and effective measures to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the deliberate misuse of biological agents, to strengthen national and global networks to rapidly identify, confirm and respond to biological attacks, to reinforce and strengthen biologicalnon-proliferation principles, practices and instruments, and to reduce proliferation risks through the advancement and promotion of safe and responsible conduct in life sciences and biotechnology.
The Programme also fosters cooperation and assistance among States Parties of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction as stipulated in Article X of the BWC.
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