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As Canada’s 2025 presidency of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction comes to a close, I wish to express my profound gratitude to colleagues across governments, international organizations, and civil society for a year of purpose, innovation, and concrete results. Our shared mission – to prevent the acquisition and use of nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons – remains as vital today as at the Partnership’s inception in 2002. Over the past year, we have worked to ensure the GP is both steadfast in its objectives and agile in its methods.

Our narrative this year has been one of renewal. Members endorsed updated Biosecurity Deliverables and a revised Chemical Security Strategic Vision, alongside new Deliverables for the CBRN Working Group and an expanded mandate for the GP WMD Counter Disinformation Initiative. These frameworks provide a clear, modernized roadmap for programming – anchored in practical measures and attuned to today’s threat environment. They respond to deliberate biological risks, the evolving chemical security landscape, and the cross‑cutting challenges that increasingly shape our work. Central to the GP’s renewal was the launch of a new strategy and action plan for WMD-Relevant Technologies (WMD-RT) – including artificial intelligence, 3D printing, uncrewed aerial systems, and gene editing – which seeks to identify how the Global Partnership can anticipate, mitigate, and, where possible, harness emerging technologies for CBRN deterrence, detection, and response.

Throughout, we remained focused on urgent priorities around the world. Members reiterated their determination to sustain assistance to Ukraine’s CBRN security needs and combat Russian WMD attacks and provocations; to support the identification and eventual destruction of chemical weapons in Syria; and to deliver on the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa (SIMBA) – demonstrating the Partnership’s ability to mobilize expertise and resources where they matter most.

We also strengthened the Partnership’s ability to execute. Canada established a Coordination Unit to support continuity across rotating presidencies; members adopted a Strategic Communications Plan to improve visibility; and enhancements to the GP Portal have made matchmaking more efficient and transparent. An independent evaluation affirmed the GP’s unique value and offered practical recommendations to deepen engagement, sharpen alignment, and raise our profile; the groundwork laid this year positions the Partnership to act on those findings.

As we hand stewardship to France as incoming chair, Canada is confident the GP is better equipped to meet the challenges ahead: more coherent in strategy, more connected to partners, more diverse in funding sources, and more capable in delivery. Our work is unfinished, but our momentum is strong. Thank you for your trust, your diligence, and your commitment to a safer world.