About the process
In October 2019 Austria hosted an international conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare. At the close of the conference, Ireland announced it would hold a series of consultations with a view towards developing a political declaration to address the humanitarian harm arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Timeline:
- The first consultation took place on 18 November 2019 in Geneva.
Jump to Consultation 1- The second consultation was held on 10 February 2020 in Geneva.
Jump to Consultation 2- The date for the third round of consultations has been delayed by the evolving situation relating to COVID-19.
Jump to Consultation 3
Negotiation news
Consultations
Consultation 1
- For INEW’s briefing ahead of the consultations, see here
- For the agenda, see here
- For the concept note, see here
- For an initial response by Reaching Critical Will, WILPF, see here
- Following this consultation, Ireland published “Draft Elements of a Political Declaration” paper as the basis for ongoing discussions
Consultation 2
The agenda will closely follow the structure of the Draft Elements text circulated by Ireland which is structured as follows:
Part A (Preamble)
- Section 1: Problems and Challenges
- Section 2: International Humanitarian Law
Part B (Operative Section)
- Sections 3 & 4: Operational and Other Commitments
The INEW statement to the consultations can be found here
INEW's summary of the discussion can be found here
Consultation 3
In light of the evolving situation relating to COVID-19, and taking account of relevant public health guidance, the planned consultations in March have been postponed.
In March, Ireland circulated a draft political declaration text, and has requested input . INEW's commentary on the draft is available here.
Ireland is now preparing a revised version of the draft Political Declaration on the basis of submissions received with a view to holding face-to-face consultations in Geneva as soon as possible.
Photo: © United States Mission Geneva. Original.