In July, the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) and the National Authority of Chemical Weapons (NACW) co-hosted a capacity-building workshop on Biosecurity Risk Management. This workshop, supported by the European Union’s CBRN Centres of Excellence Project 81 – BIOSEC Enhanced Biosecurity in South East Asia, aimed to strengthen regional capacities in managing biological risks across environmental, human, and animal health sectors, focusing on laboratory activities.

Over 40 participants from various One Health sectors engaged in hands-on exercises at IPC, mastering biological risk assessment and advanced methodologies, while aligning with international standards such as the WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (4th Ed). The workshop was led by trainers Tom Hughes and Mei-Ho Lee from Conservation Medicine, Malaysia / Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), Thailand, and Dr. Bobby Yau from the UK Health Security Agency’s Novel and Dangerous Pathogens Training team.

Held from July 23-26, the training facilitated collaboration among professionals dedicated to global health security. This initiative enhances readiness to tackle global biosecurity challenges and builds biosafety and biosecurity in pandemic preparedness. Special thanks to the European Union for supporting this initiative through Project P81.

The workshop concluded with a graduation ceremony, where diplomas were awarded to the participants by Docteur LY Sovann and Prof. André SPIEGEL, recognizing their commitment and achievements in biosecurity risk management.