From 3-7 November, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) will organize a training course on ‘biological crime scene management’ in cooperation with INTERPOL’s Bioterrorism Prevention Unit and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Microbiology Laboratory. This course is intended for a select group of 16 experts from who have been nominated by UN Member States to the roster for the UN Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM) [more information about the UNSGM can be found on our website]. This is an advanced skill training course within the training programme for experts nominated to the UNSGM roster. Participants will be selected by UNODA from the UNSGM roster of experts, and due consideration will be given to ensuring a broad geographic representation and gender balance among the selected experts.
The objective of the course will be to provide the participants with a better understanding of sampling techniques and evidence management in the context of a possible UNSGM investigation. Training elements include both lectures and practical elements. UNODA will provide information on the UNSGM context for such incidents. INTERPOL will provide instructions on crime scene operations in an environment that is potentially biologically contaminated. Representatives from the Public Health Agency of Canada will complement these sections with training components on biological sampling, including field testing, laboratory analysis, and evidence transportation. UNDSS will also provide a module on field communications. The course concludes with a small field-exercise, in which participants will put into practice the elements covered in the course and conduct sampling and evidence management operations in two scenarios with scenes potentially contaminated with biological material.
