2015 IM

The intersessional meeting was opened by the President of the Fourteenth Meeting of the States Parties (14MSP), Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe of Belgium, and the Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, Ambassador Stefano Toscano.

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The following delegations shared views and information on matters related to the universalization of the Convention: 14MSP President, ICBL, UNMAS, Mexico, Japan, ICRC, and Palestine.

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The Chair of the Committee on Victim Assistance, Costa Rica, presented the Committee's report and preliminary observations.

The following delegations shared views and information on matters related to victim assistance: Thailand, European Union, UNMAS, Sudan, Tajikistan, Austria, Croatia, Peru and the ICBL.

The following delegations provided a written submission on matters related to victim assistance: Afghanistan and Serbia.

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The Chair of the Committee on Victim Assistance, Poland, presented the Committee’s report and preliminary observations.

The following States Parties that are in the process of implementing Article 5 responded to the Committee’s preliminary observations and / or provided updates on their efforts: Mozambique, Cambodia, Peru, Algeria, the United Kingdom, Ecuador, Colombia, Sudan, Niger, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tajikistan.

The following States Parties presented requests for extended mine clearance deadlines, which will be formally considered at the 14MSP: Cyprus, Ethiopia, Mauritania and Senegal.

The following other delegations shared views on matters related to Article 5 implementation: Norway, Switzerland, UNMAS, the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the ICBL.

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The Chair the Committee on the Enhancement of Cooperation and Assistance, Indonesia, presented the Committee’s report and preliminary observations.

he following delegations shared views on matters related to cooperation and assistance: the European Union, UNMAS, Norway, the Netherlands and Zambia.

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Ambassador Rosemary McCarney of Canada chaired a thematic panel on the commitments made by the States Parties at their Third Review Conference in 2014 to meet the goals of the Convention to the fullest extent possible by 2025. The panel discussion sought to better understand the process of building political will to address anti-personnel mines, both nationally in order to carry out States Parties’ obligations and commitments under the Convention, and collectively to achieve the Convention’s vision of a mine-free world by 2025. The panel drew from the expertise of donor and mine-affected states as well as from civil society.

Panellists included the following: Ambassador Suraya Dalil of Afghanistan, Ms. Katy Donnelly, Deputy Permanent Representative of New Zealand, Mr. Jaime Chissano, Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission of Mozambique and Mr. Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, Research Coordinator on Ban Policy for the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, ICBL.

The following delegations shared views on the topic of the thematic panel: Switzerland, Colombia, Chile, GICHD and MAG.

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The Chair of the Committee on Cooperative Compliance, the 14MSP President, presented the Committee’s report and preliminary observations.

The following delegations responded to the Committee’s observations: Ukraine and Turkey.

The following delegations shared views on matters related to cooperative compliance: Norway, Switzerland, the ICBL, UNMAS, Austria, Morocco and the ICRC.

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The 14MSP President presented his preliminary observations on stockpile destruction.

The following delegations responded to the Committee’s observations: Belarus, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Finland and Afghanistan.  

The following delegations shared views on matters related to stockpile destruction: Switzerland, UNMAS and the ICBL.  

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Switzerland, in its capacity as a Member of the Committee on the Enhancement of Cooperation and Assistance, introduced a discussion on fostering partnerships. The purpose of which was to gain greater understanding and clarity to support the Maputo Review Conference’s ambition that States Parties enter into “partnerships for completion” and that the Committee on the Enhancement of Cooperation and Assistance is mandated to “facilitate the fostering of partnerships.  

The discussion featured two panels. The first panel focused on questions such as: What are partnerships? What are the expectations towards partners? How do partnerships work? And, how can partnerships be enhanced? Panellists included the following: Ambassador Saja Majali of Jordan, Ambassador Henk Cor van der Kwast of the Netherlands, Neil Buhne, the Director of the United Nations Development Programme (Geneva), and Chris Natale of Norwegian People’s Aid.

The second panel focused on the role and potential of the private sector in providing support for demining. Panelists included Gilbert Tekimiti of APOPO, Darren Cormack of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), of Diana Peñalos, Colombia’s national mine action authority (DAICMA).

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The 14MSP Presidency, along with the Director of the ISU, presented a draft guide to reporting:  

he following delegations shared views on the draft reporting guide: Colombia, Switzerland, Canada, Thailand, UNMAS, Belarus and Zambia.

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The ISU Acting Director presented an update on the ISU’s 2015 activities and financing:  

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Chile presented a concept note on the financial situation of the ISU. 

The following delegations shared views on the financial situation of the ISU: Cambodia, Colombia, GICHD, Mexico, Algeria, Jordan, Thailand, Zambia, Japan, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Norway, Switzerland and Sudan.

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The President presented a draft programme of work for the Fourteenth Meeting of the States Parties.  

Australia, in its capacity as the Coordinator of the Convention’s informal Sponsorship Programme, provided an update on the programme.  

The President proposed dates for the Fifteenth Meeting of the States Parties as follows: 29 November to 2 December 2016.

The President recalled that eight new Committee Members will need to be elected at the 14MSP and reminded delegations to notify him of their interest.  

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The intersessional meeting was closed by the 14MSP President.