2024 Intersessional Meetings

H.E. Dr. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), President of the Fifth Review Conference and Ambassador Stefano Toscano, Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, will deliver the opening remarks.

During this agenda item, the Committee will present its activities since the Twenty-First Meeting of the States Parties (21MSP) and reflections on the implementation by States Parties of their victim assistance commitments under the Oslo Action Plan (OAP) (Actions 33 to 41).

The Committee will invite States Parties implementing victim assistance commitments1 to offer updates on their efforts and challenges faced in the implementation of their commitments under the OAP. The Committee will then open the floor to any other States Parties or organisations that wishes to take the floor on matters related to victim assistance.

During this agenda item, the Committee will present its activities since the 21MSP and reflections on the implementation by States Parties of OAP actions related to survey and clearance of mined areas and mine risk education and reduction (Actions 18 to 32).

Following the presentation of the Committee’s activities, the floor will be granted to delegations as follows:

• States Parties that have submitted or may require to submit requests for extension of their Article 5 deadlines for consideration by the Fifth Review Conference (Afghanistan, Chad, Cyprus, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Oman, Peru, and Serbia) will be invited to offer informal presentations of their requests;
• States Parties that have been requested to submit updated work plans in accordance with decisions on their requests for extension will be invited to provide an overview of their updated work plans (Cambodia, Croatia, Ecuador, South Sudan, Thailand, Ukraine, and Yemen);
• Other States Parties implementing Article 5 will be invited to present on their progress in meeting their Article 5 deadlines;
• States Parties and organisations wishing to engage with the Committee’s preliminary observations will be invited to take the floor.

During this agenda item, the Committee will present its activities since the 21MSP and reflections on the implementation by States Parties of the cooperation and assistance commitments under the OAP (Actions 42 to 47).

The Committee will invite States Parties to offer updates on their efforts and challenges on matters related to cooperation and assistance.

During this agenda item, the Committee will present its activities since the 21MSP and reflections on the implementation by States Parties of their compliance commitments under the OAP (Actions 48 to 50).

The Committee will invite 1) States Parties with alleged or known non-compliance with the general obligations under Article 1 to provide an update on their efforts to address these matters, 2) States Parties with outstanding Article 9 commitments to offer an update on the implementation of Action 50 of the OAP, and 3)Other States Parties and organisations wishing to engage with the Committee’s preliminary observations.

6a. Universalization

During this agenda item, the President will present his activities on universalization. The President will then invite States not party participating in the meeting to take the floor to provide an update on their position with respect to the Convention or to share information on the steps they have taken to come closer to the Convention.

The President will then give the floor to interested delegations and organisations to offer updates on any other matter concerning universalisation in accordance with the OAP (Actions 11 and 12).

6b. Stockpile destruction

During this agenda item, the President will present his activities on matters related to stockpile destruction under Article 4 and on matters related to anti-personnel mines retained for training and other permitted purposes under Article 3. Following the presentation by the President, the floor will be granted to delegations as follows:

• States Parties that have missed their Article 4 deadlines (Greece and Ukraine) will be invited to offer updated information on the implementation of their stockpile destruction commitments in accordance with the OAP (Actions 13 to 15);
• States Parties that have discovered previously unknown stockpiled mines will be invited to take the floor;
• States Parties that retain anti-personnel mines for training and other permitted purposes will be invited to provide information on the reasons for retaining such anti-personnel mines under Article 3 and plans for the use of these mines and efforts to explore alternatives in accordance with the OAP (Actions 16 and 17).
• Other States Parties and organisations wishing to engage with the Committee’s preliminary observations will be invited to take the floor.

a. Activities and finances of the ISU

• Update on the ISU’s activities and finances by the ISU Director
• Delegations’ updates

b. 2024 Pledging Conference

• Update by the President on the outcomes of the 2024 Pledging Conference

H.E. Dr. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), President of the Fifth Review Conference will offer closing remarks.

See separate agenda.

11:30 – 13:00

The States Parties to the Convention have long recognized that, in order to be effective and sustainable, victim assistance should be integrated into broader national policies, plans and legal frameworks relating to the rights of persons with disabilities, and to health, education, employment, development and poverty reduction in support of the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Action 34 of the Oslo Action Plan puts an emphasis in this regard by requiring States Parties to ‘carry out multi-sectoral efforts to ensure that the needs and rights of mine victims are effectively addressed through national policy and legal frameworks [...] in line with the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.’

The complexity of victim assistance comes with opportunities as well as challenges. While mine-affected States Parties have reported progress in integrating victim assistance into broader frameworks, challenges have also been reported in engaging different national stakeholders, sectors and domains. With Victim Assistance being a process, not a project, consistent and long-term efforts are essential to ensure effective synergies..

The discussion will draw on lessons learned to strengthen our collective efforts to ensure victim assistance will be sustained, especially when States Parties with mine victims in areas under their jurisdiction or control, have completed mine clearance. The discussion will further explore measures and ideas to strengthen synergies at the national, regional and international levels and how they could be best reflected in the upcoming Action Plan to be adopted at the Fifth Review Conference.

15:00 – 16:30

At the 2014 Third Review Conference, the States Parties committed to “intensify our efforts to complete our respective time-bound obligations with the urgency that the completion work requires” and to “aspire to meet these goals to the fullest extent possible by 2025.” Likewise, the purpose of the Committees were better aligned to achieve the aims of the States Parties including “to intensify efforts to ensure that Article 5 is fully implemented as soon as possible, while acknowledging local, national and regional circumstances in its practical implementation” in the case of the Committee on Article 5 Implementation and “to assist the States Parties in the full implementation of Article 6 of the Convention, in line with their reaffirmation of ending the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines is a shared commitment” in the case of the Committee on the Enhancement of Cooperation and Assistance.

At the 2019 Fourth Review Conference, the States Parties reiterated this call to intensify efforts to make progress towards 2025 and committed to “do our utmost to strengthen partnerships and to sustain and, where necessary, increase resources, assistance, national and international funding”. The Oslo Review Conference further adopted the Oslo Action Plan as an “essential tool towards the fulfilment of this ambition”. The Oslo Action Plan included several measures that mine-affected States Parties would take at a national level and that States in a position to provide assistance would take to realize the 2025 ambition of the Convention.

Despite these commitments, a number of States Parties implementing Article 5 have cited, time and time again, the lack of national and international resources as key obstacles to meeting their Article 5 deadlines. The panel discussion will be an opportunity to look back at the implementation of Article 5 and the cooperation and assistance measures of the Oslo 4 Action Plan and explore how best States Parties can ensure that no state is left behind and that the new action plan responds to their key challenge in implementation.

16:30 – 18:00

The preamble of the Convention recognizes the desire of the States Parties to attract adherence of all States to the Convention. The Oslo Declaration adopted by the States Parties in 2019 recognized that the norms established by the Convention are strong and pledged to promote, defend and condemn the use of anti-personnel mines by any actor as well as to continue sparing no effort to universalize the Convention based on the respect for obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law. In adopting the Oslo Action Plan, the States Parties committed to the implementation of actions to support the universalization and to strengthen compliance of the Convention at the national and international levels. 25 years on, it remains clear that all States Parties to the Convention have a responsibility in ensuring that the norm established by the Convention remains strong.

This panel will explore efforts in place to universalize the Convention and to ensure that the norms and provisions to ensure compliance, including transparency, national implementation, and other measures, remains strong. The panel will also provide an opportunity for States Parties to consider how the next action plan can best ensure that the norm of the Convention remains strong.