The Long and Unfinished Road to Institutionalization of the Biological Weapons Convention: A Perspective From the Implementation Support Unit

For over half of its lifespan, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) operated without any dedicated continuous institutional support. This shortcoming was finally remedied at the Sixth Review Conference in 2006, not long after the convention's 30th anniversary. The Implementation Support Unit (ISU) created by that Review Conference has now been in existence for almost 2 decades. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the convention-an appropriate moment to make some observations on the contribution of the ISU to the overall development of the BWC. In this commentary, we examine the efforts made over the years to equip the BWC with stronger institutional support and provide a description of the establishment of the ISU in 2006. We also summarize some key achievements of the ISU alongside some of the challenges that it has faced. Finally, we conclude with reference to the ongoing discussions within the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Convention to endow it with a more robust institution.