Twenty-one Saudi Arabian staff members of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, and the King Faisal University participated in a five-day course in Brussels, Belgium, during which they discussed a number of questions related to arms control and protection against CBRN materials, including elements relating to the development of a CBRN Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ).
The workshop was jointly organised by Hotzone Solutions Group, the International CBRNE Institute (ICI) and the Saudi National Authority for the Implementation of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions. Experts from the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the European Union Joint Research Centre (JRC) directed a two-day session dedicated to the development of the NAQ.
During a three-day session, Hotzone Solutions and the ICI briefed participants on the main arms control treaties and moderated a round-table discussion on political problems relating to their implementation.
Participants spent a full day at the ICI, Les Bons Villers, Belgium, during which they received briefings on the strategic concept and objectives of chemical and biological defence and on the overview of main components of chemical and biological defence strategies. They also received practical training on personal protective equipment and gas masks, and on the detection of chemical warfare agents, using Hotzone Technology non-toxic chemical warfare simulation agents. They attended a demonstration on the chemical decontamination of personnel and equipment, during which panellists stressed the importance of the added value of specialised CBRN training for first responders, notably involving simulants and live agents.
The Saudi Arabian National Authority expressed full satisfaction with the results of the training course, emphasising the interest of the Saudi authorities in this kind of training, and reiterating their willingness to continue cooperation with Hotzone Solutions and the International CBRNE Institute.
