On 10 February states met in Geneva for a second round of consultations on a political declaration on explosive weapons. INEW delivered a statement calling for a clear and unequivocal presumption against the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas, increased recognition of reverberating effects, and a strengthened commitment to assist victims.

“Towards a political declaration to address the humanitarian harm arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas “ Read More

In the course of ongoing consultations on a political declaration to address the harm to civilians from the use of Read More

In conflicts all over the world – in countries such as Syria, Ukraine and Yemen – the use of explosive Read More

INEW’s new short paper highlights three key points on the Draft Elements of a Political Declaration paper that INEW would urge states to expand on at the next consultations, that will take place on 10 February (10.00-18.00), Room XXI, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

This report was written by Katrin Geyer of Reaching Critical Will, WILPF, and first published here. The first round of consultations Read More

INEW statement Geneva Consultations: “Towards a Political Declaration to Address the Humanitarian Harm Arising from the use of Explosive Weapons Read More

A particular highlight of the conventional weapons debate was the joint statement on explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA), coordinated Read More

On 24 October at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee in New York, seventy-one countries joined a statement led by Read More

In the second week of general debate, Angola, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, San Marino, Switzerland all raised concern over the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW).

The escalation of hostilities in north-eastern Syria once again illustrates the urgent need for the international community to take decisive political action that will set a stronger standard for civilian protection from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Photo: © Save the Children

In the opening couple of days of First Committee, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, and Uruguay both raised the issue of explosive weapons in populated areas, and referenced the recent meeting on this theme which took place in Vienna on 1-2 October 2019. The Vienna Conference on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare was hosted by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and saw the participation of 133 states as well as international organisations and civil society and concluded with plans to start discussions for an international political declaration through a meeting in Geneva on 18 November 2018.
[Photo credit: Philippe Kropf/OCHA]