Past, Present, & Future

The Global Partnership (GP) was launched at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada in 2002 with a mandate to prevent terrorists and those that harbor them from acquiring weapons and materials of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

It included an invitation for other countries to join the GP, and to support and adopt six common “Principles” to prevent terrorists, or those that harbour them from gaining access to weapons or materials of mass destruction as well as a set of nine “Guidelines” for New or Expanded Cooperation Projects.  

Over the years, the GP has grown to include 31 active members, and continues to implement a diverse range of programming activities around the world in four priority areas:

• Strengthen Nuclear and Radiological Security
• Mitigate Biological Threats
• Chemical Weapons Destruction and Security
• Support for Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540

Concrete programmatic initiatives and thematic priorities are discussed at the bi-annual Global Partnership Working Group meetings which include four specific subordinate thematic sub-working groups on nuclear and radiological security, biological security, chemical security and UNSCR 1540.

The chair of the Global Partnership rotates annually with the Presidency of the G7. The current chair of the Global Partnership is Germany (2022), which will be succeeded by Japan (2023).

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