STATES PARTIES TO CCW PROTOCOL V TO HOLD FIRST CONFERENCE

The First Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), annexed to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), will be held on 5 November 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Ambassador Johannes C. Landman of the Netherlands, who chaired the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) on June 18, has been nominated by the States Parties to preside over the First Conference, subject to a confirmation at its first plenary meeting. Moreover, two vice-presidents have been designated by the PrepCom to assist the work of the President, Ambassador Jayant Prasad of India and Ambassador Edvardas Borisovas of Lithuania.

The First Conference will consider and take action on a number of substantive issues recommended by the PrepCom, which essentially are the nuts and bolts on how the States Parties should faithfully implement the Protocol in the mo st effective manner. In particular, the First Conference is expected to take decisions on national reporting, the exchange of information, cooperation and assistance, and the establishment of an ERW-database. The First Conference will also address the universality of the Protocol, an acknowledgement and further implementation of the Plan of Action to Promote the Universality of the Convention and its annexed Protocols adopted by the Third Review Conference last year. The consideration of these issues will constitute the bulk of the work of the Conference, thus setting the stage for the construction of a streamlined infrastructure for the effective implementation of the Protocol. The Conference will adopt a Final Document containing substantive decisions of the States Parties as well as other procedural matters at the end of its one-day meeting.

The CCW Protocol V on ERW was negotiated by a Group of Governmental Experts and was subsequently adopted in 2003 by the CCW States Parties in response to an initiative launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2000. The Protocol covers post-conflict remedial measures of a generic nature in order 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. Moreover, parties to an armed conflict shall survey, mark and clear ERW in areas under their control 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, which fell on 12 November 2006. At the time, 26 CCW States parties had expressed their consent to be bound by the Protocol. Today the number has increased to 35, comprising: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holy See, Hungary, India, Ireland, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine and Uruguay.



The First Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War will be followed by the Ninth Annual Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Amended Protocol II annexed to the CCW to be held on 6 November 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.


For more information on the Protocol or the Convention, the official website of the CCW within the website of the United Nations Organization at Geneva can be consulted at the following address: http://www.unog.ch/disarmament/.



For use of the information media; not an official record

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