Dr Razia receives OPCW-The Hague Award as the first Bangladeshi

Professor Dr. Syeda Sultana Razia of Chemical Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has been awarded this year's prestigious 2023 OPCW-The Hague Award, in recognition of her efforts to educate the people about the peaceful uses of chemistry, particularly in chemical safety and security. 

The Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Fernando Arias, and Ambassador Henk van der Kwast, on behalf of the Dutch Government, jointly presented the award to her at the opening ceremony of the 28th Annual Conference of the OPCW.

Alongside Dr. Razia, Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland and Hubert K Foy, Founding Director and senior research scientist at the African Center for Science and International Security in Ghana were also co-recipients of the OPCW-The Hague Award. Total Euro 90,000/- cash prize will be awarded to the recipients annually.

The advancement of capacity building in chemical safety and security is the main focus of Dr. Razia's work. She has also created educational courses on subjects connected to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, OPCW, in collaboration with the Municipality of The Hague, has been awarding individuals and organisations around the world for their individual work in relation to the objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Dr. Razia is the first to win this award on behalf of Bangladesh.