Second international conference of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas

San Jose, Costa Rica, November 2025

Opening Ceremony

Statement by the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW)

Delivered by Cesar Jaramillo

Excellencies, colleagues, friends,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the International Network on Explosive Weapons. It is an honour for us to stand alongside states, international organizations, and civil-society partners committed to strengthening the protection of civilians from the humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons in populated areas.

We are grateful for the leadership shown by Costa Rica in convening this meeting, along with the ongoing commitment of Ireland and Norway, and the engagement of UN agencies. We further thank the states represented here today that have shown the courage and determination to endorse the Political Declaration and are working to advance its objectives.

Yesterday, INEW issued a Global Call to Action. I will not repeat its contents here, but a core message is that the staggering scale of civilian harm today continues to demand a robust and decisive response from the international community. Civilian suffering from the bombardment of cities is increasing, not diminishing. And while the Political Declaration represents a major step forward, much greater resolve is needed to ensure that its commitments are translated into concrete changes on the ground, and by a greater number of states.

From Africa to the Middle East, from Europe to Asia, when explosive weapons designed for open battlefields are used in towns and cities, civilians are overwhelmingly the ones who are killed, injured, displaced, and traumatised. Essential infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, power grids, and water systems is routinely destroyed. And even after hostilities end, the effects on civilian lives and livelihoods continue to be felt, sometimes for generations.

The endorsement of the Political Declaration by eighty-eight states is welcome progress and reflects a growing recognition that protecting civilians from the worst consequences of urban warfare is both a humanitarian imperative and a legal obligation. Yet the pattern of harm resulting from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas continues to unfold with disturbing intensity, in plain sight and in real time.

Since its adoption in Dublin in 2022, the Political Declaration has coexisted with violent and highly destructive conflicts with practices inconsistent with its spirit and specific commitments. The scale and intensity of recent urban bombardments have brought the humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons into stark and painful focus, revealing levels of devastation that should trouble the conscience of the international community.

Several states continue to use explosive weapons in populated areas in ways that cause devastating civilian harm. Across multiple conflicts, from Ukraine and Sudan to Gaza, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas has caused devastating levels of civilian harm and widespread destruction of essential infrastructure. Others continue to transfer such weapons to actors that employ them indiscriminately. And some express rhetorical support for the Declaration but have yet to reflect its commitments in national policies, military doctrine, or operational practice.

For INEW, several priorities stand out going forward.

First, states should internalize the Declaration’s central commitment: to refrain from the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas and restrict all other use of explosive weapons in populated areas. This commitment must be operationalized through doctrine, training, targeting procedures, and legal reviews, rather than treated as an abstract aspiration.

Second, states should strengthen systems for recording, analysing, and transparently reporting civilian harm. Without reliable data, lessons cannot be learned, patterns cannot be understood, and accountability cannot be upheld.

Third, assistance to victims and affected communities must be adequately resourced, rights-based, intersectional, and sustained for as long as support is needed. This includes recognizing how gender, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and displacement shape both harm and access to services. It also requires states to ensure safe, effective, and unimpeded humanitarian access.

Fourth, arms transfers must reflect the logic of the Declaration. States should not supply weapons with wide-area effects to parties that use them in populated areas with devastating humanitarian consequences.

Fifth, states should develop civilian protection standards specific to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas that strengthen existing international humanitarian law and improve compliance with its provisions. Clear and consistent public positions matter. When devastating harm occurs, it is essential that states speak out. Silence erodes norms, while clarity strengthens them.

The Political Declaration has tremendous, life-saving potential. But for that potential to be fully realized, states must invest the political will, the resources, and the operational effort required to make its commitments real.

In that spirit, INEW welcomes and encourages the constructive engagement of states gathered here. We acknowledge the important progress made by states that have begun reviewing doctrine, strengthening civilian harm mitigation practices, improving data collection, and sharing lessons learned. And we call on states that have not yet joined to do so at the earliest opportunity.

The matters we discuss here are not theoretical. They relate directly to the lives and safety of civilians living through today’s conflicts, people whose survival, dignity, and future depend on the choices made by states and militaries.

As this conference begins, let us work together to ensure that the Political Declaration makes a measurable difference for those most at risk. All stakeholders can continue to count on INEW as a committed partner as we take forward this crucial work.

Thank you.