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GS: Summary and Statements

Monday 8 May & Friday 12 May

1.     Opening of the meeting

The meeting was opened by its Co-Chairs, Paul Huynen of Belgium and Carlos Arroyave of Guatemala, with the support of its Co-Rapporteurs Marcelo Valle Fonrouge of Argentina and Andrea Romussi of Italy.

In opening the meeting, the Co-Chairs reminded delegations on the process they will facilitate with a view to identifying a draft list of nominees to serve as Co-Rapporteurs following the Seventh Meeting of the States Parties.

  • Statement by the Co-Chairs on the selection of Co-Rapporteurs for the period 2006-2007 PDF 13KB

2.    General status of implementation

Dijana Plestina of Croatia, on behalf of the President of the Sixth Meeting of the States Parties, provided an overview of the general status of implementation in the context of the pursuit of the aims of the Nairobi Action Programme and the priorities contained in the Zagreb Progress Report.

  • Statement by Dijana Plestina of Croatia, on behalf of the 6MSP President PDF 30KB

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 22KB

The following States that recently ratified the Convention made statements:

  • Haiti
  • Brunei Darussalam

The States not parties made statements on their efforts to proceed with ratification of or accession to the Convention:

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. Susan Eckey of Norway, provided an update on efforts to mobilize resources to achieve the Convention's aims.

  • Statement by Ms. Susan Eckey of Norway, Coordinator of the Resource Mobilisation Contact Group

In addition, the Co-Chairs of the Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Belgium and Guatemala, presented a paper on the topic of Triangular International Cooperation:

  • Discussion paper on Triangular International Cooperation PDF 14KB

In addition, the following States Parties or organizations provided views or updates in the context of the topic of resource mobilization:

  • United Nations Mine Action Service
  • Organization of American States

5.     Update on Article 7 reporting

The Coordinator of the Article 7 Contact Group, Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium, provided on 8 May an initial update on efforts to promote timely reporting in accordance with the Article and then on 12 May provided a revised update. In addition, the Director of the Geneva Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Tim Caughley, introduced a letter that he had provided to the States Parties on the matter of Article 7 reporting.

  • Presentation by Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium, Coordinator of the Article 7 Contact Group PDF 645KB
  • Letter addressed to the States Parties by the Director of the Geneva Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs

The following States Parties and organizations provided updates shared views with respect to Article 7 reporting:

  • Swaziland
  • South Africa
  • ICBL

6.     Contact Group Updates

Following a week of activities, the Contact Group Coordinators made brief updates:

  • Article 7 Contact Group: Belgium
  • Universalization Contact Group: Canada
  • Resource Mobilisation Contact Group (Norway)

7.     Updates on Article 3

The following States Parties and organizations shared views or 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 in accordance with Article 3:

8.     Updates on Article 9

The following States Parties and organizations shared views or provided updates on the development and adoption of legislative, administrative and other measures in accordance with Article 9:

  • ICRC PDF 489KB
    Table of National Implementation Measures as reported by the States Parties under Article 7 - presented by the ICRC PDF 225KB 
  • Tanzania, United Republic of
  • ICBL
  • Turkey PDF 11KB
  • South Africa

9.     The practical implementation of the various other provisions of the Convention

The following States Parties and organizations exchanged views and shared their experiences on the practical implementation of the various provisions of the Convention, including Articles 1, 2 and 3:

  • ICBL (Articles 1 & 2)
  • UNDDA (Article 8)
  • Belarus (regional cooperation)
  • Croatia (Article 2) PDF 99KB
  • ICRC (Aricle 2 & 3) PDF 17KB
    Positions and relevant practice of States Parties on Article 2 of the Ottawa Convention PDF 69KB
  • Canada (mine action and development)
  • Moldova (Article 2) PDF 20KB
  • Kenya (Article 2)

10.     Preparations for the Seventh Meeting of the States Parties

The President-Designate of the Seventh Meeting of the States Parties (7MSP) Ambassador Caroline Millar of Australia, presented a paper containing initial ideas and an agenda and a programme for the 7MSP:

  • Initial ideas concerning, and suggested agenda and programme for, the Seventh Meeting of the States Parties PDF 44KB 
  • Statement by 7MSP President-Designate, Ambassador Caroline Millar of Australia  PDF 18KB

In addition, the Co-Chairs introduced draft 7MSP Rules of Procedure and the 7MSP Executive Secretary, Mr. Tim Caughley, Director of the Geneva Branch of the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, introduced draft 7MSP cost estimates:

As well, 7MSP Secretary-General-designate provided an update on organizational matters.

  • Update by Ambassador Jürg Streuli of Switzerland, 7MSP Secretary-General-Designate

11.     Matters pertaining to the general operations of the Convention

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

  • Update on the Coordinating Committee (Ms. Dijana Plestina of Croatia, Chair of the Coordinating Committee) PDF 12KB 
  • Update on the Implementation Support Unit (Ambassador Stephan Nellen, Director of the GICHD) PDF 22KB
  • Update on the Implementation Support Unit (Mr. Kerry Brinkert, Manager of the Implementation Support Unit, GICHD)
  • Update on the Sponsorship Programme (Mr. Guy Pollard of the United Kingdom, Coordinator of the Sponsorship Programme)  PDF 14KB

In addition, the following States Parties expressed their support for the Implementation Support Unit and / or the Sponsorship Programme:

  • Croatia
  • Norway
  • Canada

12.     Closing remarks by the Co-Chairs