CCW PROTOCOL ON EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR TO FURTHER DEVELOP ITS IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM AT THIRD CONFERENCE

The Third Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) will be held on 9 and 10 November 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The Conference this year will continue to focus on efforts to strengthen the treaty’s implementation mechanism. This includes the issue on clearance of ERW; victim assistance; cooperation and assistance, in particular requests for assistance; recording, retaining and transfer of information on the use of weapons that may become ERW; national reporting on the implementation of the Protocol; and generic preventive measures that could minimize the occurrence of ERW. These substantive issues were discussed under separate Coordinators at the Protocol V Meeting of Experts (Geneva 22-24 April 2009) thus preparing the groundwork for the Third Conference. The Coordinators will report on the results of the respective discussions, and they are expected to formulate concrete recommendations on how best to enhance the implementation of the Protocol during the Conference.

The Conference will also address the universality of the Protocol. Thirteen more States have recently acceded to the instrument since the previous Conference, which makes the total number of States Parties to the Protocol to 61.

All substantive decisions of the States Parties as well as other procedural matters will be included in the Final Document of the Conference.

Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao of India will preside over the work of the Third Conference, who will be assisted by two vice-presidents of the Conference, Australia and Slovenia. They will also be supported by Coordinators from Lithuania, Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, and France who are responsible for the substantive issues under discussion.

Background

Responding to an initiative launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2000, the Protocol was negotiated by the CCW Group of Governmental Experts and subsequently adopted in 2003 by the CCW States Parties. Protocol V covers post-conflict remedial measures of a generic nature to minimize the risks and effects of explosive remnants of war. Under the Protocol, each State party and party to armed conflict shall bear the responsibility to clear explosive remnants of war or to assist in such clearance. In particular, parties to an armed conflict shall survey, mark and clear ERW in areas under their control or jurisdiction after a conflict; where appropriate, provide technical, material and financial assistance for the removal of ERW left by their armed forces in areas not under their control; record information on explosive or abandoned ordnance and share that information with organizations involved in clearance activities; and take all feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of ERW, including marking and fencing off dangerous areas and warning them of the risks.

During the Third Review Conference (Geneva, 7-17 November 2006) the States Parties adopted a special Declaration to mark the Entry into Force of Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War on 12 November 2006. At the time, 26 CCW States parties have expressed their consent to be bound by the Protocol. The number of States Parties has significantly increased from 35 in 2007, to 48 in 2008, to 61 as at 3 November 2009, comprising: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada (19 May 2009), Chile (18 August 2009), Costa Rica (27 April 2009), Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador (10 March 2009), El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia (22 December 2008), Germany, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Latvia (16 September 2009), Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali (24 April 2009), Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan (3 February 2009), Paraguay (3 December 2008), Peru (29 May 2009), Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal (6 November 2008), Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates (26 February 2009), United States of America (21 January 2009), and Uruguay.

The Conferences of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V are held annually to review the status and operation of the Protocol. The informal Meetings of Experts are organized prior to the annual conferences and represent the key integral part of Protocol V’s implementation mechanism. They were established with the purpose of providing a forum for consultation and cooperation among the States parties where those in need of assistance can discuss and receive assistance from those in a position to provide such assistance. The discussion of the expert meetings are chaired by coordinators who report on their work to the annual conferences.

The Third Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War will be followed by the Eleventh Annual Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Amended Protocol II, which will be held on 11 November 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.


For more information, please refer to the official website of the Protocol at; http://www.unog.ch/CCW/ProtocolV


For use of the information media; not an official record

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