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GS: Summary and Statements

Monday 13 June & Friday 17 June

1.     Opening of the meeting

The meeting was opened by its Co-Chairs, Ambassador Tim Caughley of New Zealand and Ambassador Glaudine Mtshali of South Africa, with the support of its Co-Rapporteurs Mr. Carlos Arroyave of Guatemala and Mr. Alain Van Gucht of Belgium.

2.    General status of implementation

Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch of Austria, the President of the First Review Conference, provided an overview of the general status of implementation in the context of the pursuit of the aims of the Nairobi Action Programme. In addition, the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Co-laureate, Ms. Jody Williams, delivered remarks

  • Statement by Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch of Austria, President of the First Review Conference PDF 51KB  
  • Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate PDF 10KB 

3.     General status of universalization

The Coordinator of the Universalization Contact Group, Ms. Sumita Dixit of Canada, provided an update universalization efforts and the work of the Contact Group.

  • Statement by Ms. Sumita Dixit of Canada, Coordinator of the Universalization Contact Group PDF 13KB 

Following this update, the following States not parties made statements on their efforts to proceed with ratification of or accession to the Convention:

  • Ukraine
  • Latvia
  • Bhutan PDF 30KB
  • Iraq
  • Sri Lanka
  • Haiti
  • Azerbaijan PDF 19KB 
  • Libya

In addition, the following States Parties or organizations provided views or updates in the context of the topic of universalization.

4.     Resource mobilization

The Coordinator of the Resource Mobilisation Contact Group, Ms. Merete Lundemo of Norway, provided an update on efforts to mobilize resources to achieve the Convention's aims.

  • Statement by Ms. Merete Lundemo of Norway, Coordinator of the Resource Mobilisation Contact Group PDF 23KB 

5.     Update on Article 7 reporting

The Coordinator of the Article 7 Contact Group, Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium, provided an update on efforts to promote timely reporting in accordance with the Article.

  • Presentation by Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium, Coordinator of the Article 7 Contact Group PDF 675KB

In addition, the following States Parties or organizations provided views or updates in the context of the topic of article 7 reporting .

  • Tanzania, the United Republic of
  • ICBL PDF 14KB
  • France

6.     Article 3

Argentina made a general statement including on the matter of transparency regarding mines retained in accordance with Article 3. In addition, Argentina made a presentation on a behalf of Argentina and Chile regarding the reporting provisions of the Convention as they concern Article 3:

  • Argentina Spanish PDF 116KB
  • Presentation on the Argentine / Chilean proposal on reporting on mines retained Spanish PDF 716KB

The following States Parties provided updates on plans for and use of mines retained for the development of and training in mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction techniques:

  • Japan
  • Canada PDF 15KB
  • Bangladesh PDF 24KB
  • Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
  • Croatia
  • Belarus
  • Netherlands
  • Namibia
  • Chile
  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Belgium
  • Mexico
  • Turkey PDF 11KB

In addition, the following shared their views:

7.   Article 9

The ICRC provided an overview of the status of Article 9 obligations:

The following States Parties provided updates on steps taken in accordance with Article 9:

As well, Senator Philippe Mahoux of Belgium made a statement on law passed by the Belgian parliament prohibiting investments in anti-personnel mines. In addition, the Australian Campaign to Ban Landmines offered its views on matters concerning Article 9.

  • Senator Philippe Mahoux of Belgium
  • Australian Campaign to Ban Landmines 

8.   The practical implementation of other provisions of the Convention

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for States Parties to exchange views and share experiences on the practical implementation of various other provisions of the Convention, including Articles 1, 2 and 3. The following delegations participated in this discussion:

  • ICBL (on Articles 1 and 2) PDF 13KB
  • Human Rights Watch (on Article 2) PDF 424KB
  • ICRC PDF 12KB Table "Positions and relevant practice of States Parties on Article 2 of the Ottawa Convention" PDF 77KB
  • Argentina
  • Austria (on the European Parliament's landmines information day)
  • ICBL (on Article 8) PDF 13KB
  • Switzerland (on armed non-state actors)
  • Canada (on mainstreaming mine action into development) French PDF 24KB 
  • Turkey (on armed non-state actors) PDF 12KB 

In addition, as part of its statement, Canada reported that at its request the Implementation Support Unit of the GICHD had produced a handbook containing important documents from the Nairobi Summit

  • From Ottawa to Nairobi and beyond

9.   Preparations for the Sixth Meeting of the States Parties

A series of procedural matters concerning the Sixth Meeting of the States Parties were discussed:

  • 6MSP draft programme amd documents: Discussion paper by Austria and Croatia PDF 71KB
  • 6MSP provisional agenda PDF 16KB
  • 6MSP draft rules of procedure PDF 55KB
  • 6MSP draft cost estimates

The following States Parties and organizations provided their views on these matters:

  • South Africa
  • Japan
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Switzerland
  • Sweden
  • ICRC PDF 11KB
  • ICBL
  • Belgium

10.   General operations of the Convention

Updates were provided on the Coordinating Committee, Implementation Support Unit and Sponsorship Programme:

  • Update on the Coordinating Committee: Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch of Austria, President of the First Review Conference and Chair of the Coordinating Committee
  • Update on the Implementation Support Unit: Ambassador Stephan Nellen, Director of the GICHD
  • Update on the Sponsorship Programme: Mr. Guy Pollard of the United Kingdom, Coordinator of the Sponsorship Programme

The following then took the floor to make a funding announcement: