Norway has announced that it will host an expert meeting on explosive weapons in Oslo, Norway on 17-18 June. The meeting is a follow up to the expert meeting hosted by Chatham House with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and will look at the impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and providing greater protection to civilians. The meeting is by invitation.

The impact of explosive weapons on civilians was a key theme that emerged from a series of meetings that the Norwegian government hosted on “Reclaiming the Protection of Civilians Under International Humanitarian Law”. In May 2013 at the final conference of this initiative attended by 94 states, the Co-Chairs’ summary stated that: “the use of explosive force in military operations in densely populated areas has devastating humanitarian consequences for civilians. In particular, the use of explosive weapons with a wide area effect should be avoided”.