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MC : Summary and Statements

Wednesday 4 June - Thursday 5 June

1.     Opening of the meeting

The meeting was opened by its Co-Chairs, Canada and Peru who provided an overview of the seven areas of work focused on during this intersession work programme: (i) an assessment of the status of implementation of Article 5, including providing a forum for relevant States Parties to report on Article 5 completion; (ii) a stock-taking of the process of preparing and analysing requests under Article 5 of the Convention; (iii) a review of how the full range of methods to release “mined areas”, as defined by the Convention, could be used to accelerate Article 5 implementation; (iv) a review of the status of mine risk education efforts; (v) updates on status of implementation by States Parties in the process of fulfilling their Article 5 obligations; (vi) cooperation and assistance as it concerns Article 5 implementation; (vii) updates on other matters that relate to the implementation of Article 5.

2.     Overview of the status of implementation of Article 5

The Co-Chairs of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies presented a statement on the status of the implementation of Article 5.

  • Co-Chairs’ statement on the status of implementation PDF 58KB

3.     Stocktaking of the process of preparing and analysing requests submitted under Article 5

The President of the 8MSP gave a presentation on the status of Article 5 requests received and the analysis of them:

  • 8MSP President’s statement on Article 5 extension requests PDF 46KB

The following organisations shared their comments on the President’s statement:

  • ICBL

The Co-Chairs provided the opportunity for States Parties that have submitted requests to share highlights of their requests with the Standing Committee:

States Parties with deadlines in 2009

At this point, the Co-Chairs opened up the floor for comments and questions.  The following delegations took the floor:

The Co-Chairs continued with statements from States Parties that have submitted requests:

At this point, the Co-Chairs opened up the floor for comments and questions.  The following delegations took the floor:

The Co-Chairs continued with statements from States Parties that have submitted requests:

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments and questions on the updates provides. The following States Parties and organisations took the floor:

  • ICBL
  • Jordan (8MSP President)
  • ICRC PDF 25KB
  • Denmark
  • Venezuela
  • Ecuador
  • Switzerland PDF 128KB
  • Senegal
  • Jordan
  • Peru

4.     Updates from States Parties that have reported completion of Article 5 obligations since the 8MSP

The following State Parties which have completed the implementation of Article 5 since the 8MSP provided updates:

5.     Making use of the full range of methods to more rapidly release areas suspected of containing anti-personnel mines

In the afternoon session, the Co-Chairs convened a panel discussion on making use of the full range of methods to more rapidly release areas suspected of containing anti-personnel mines.  Tim Lardner of the GICHD gave a comprehensive overview presentation.  This was followed with an update by John Flanagan, of the Officer-in-Charge of the UN Mine Action Service on efforts to enhance the UN’s international mine action standards – or IMAS- as concerned land release.

  • GICHD Overview Presentation PDF 557KB
  • UNMAS (on behalf of the UN Mine Action Team) Update PDF 1.3MB

Norway in its capacity as Coordinator of the Resource Utilization Contact Group presented a paper which is intended to suggest a course forward for the States Parties on the matter of land release.

  • Statement of the Coordinator of the Resource Utilization Contact Group PDF 230KB
  • Resource Utilization Contact Group discussion paper

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for delegations to comment on the paper distributed by Norway, in its capacity as Resource Utilization Contact Group Coordinator. The following delegations took the floor:

6.     A Review of the Status of Mine Risk Education Efforts

A presentation was made by Paula Claycomb of UNICEF on further advances in the field of mine risk education, particularly as it applies to fulfilment of Convention obligations:

  • Presentation by Paula Claycomb of UNICEF PDF 1MB

The Co-Chairs opened the floor for questions or comments. The following delegations took the floor:

7.     Updates from Relevant States Parties on the Status of Implementation

The session reverted back to updates from States Parties which have indicated that they are in the process of fulfilling obligations under Article 5 of the Convention.  The following States Parties took the floor:

States Parties with deadlines in 2009

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments or questions. The following delegations took the floor:

  • Canada

States Parties with deadlines in 2010

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments or questions. The following delegations took the floor:

States Parties with deadlines in 2011

States Parties with deadlines in 2012

States Parties with deadlines in 2013

States Parties with deadlines in 2014

States Parties with deadlines in 2015

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments or questions. The following delegations took the floor:

8.     Cooperation and Assistance in Clearing Mined Areas

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for updates from States Parties and other in a position to assist those in the process of fulfilling Article 5 obligations.  The following delegations took the floor:

9.     Update from the Coordinator of the Resource Utilization Contact Group

  • Resource Utilization Contact Group Coordinator (Norway)

10.     Brief Updates on Other Matters of a Thematic Nature Related to Fulfilling Article 5 Obligations

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for updates on other thematic matters related to fulfilling Article 5 obligations. The following delegations took the floor:

  • Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines on Gender and Mine Action PDF 56KB