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Slovenia

  • State
  • Acknowledged harm
  • Committed to action

Slovenia has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of EWIPA and committed to action on the issue. 

Statements

Slovenia addressed the harm caused by EWIPA at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 2011,[1] 2017,[2] and 2019.[3]

As part of the Human Security Network, Slovenia endorsed two statements addressing the risk of EWIPA at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 2013[4] and 2014.[5] The statements called for data collection and to refrain from the use of EWIPA. 

As a member of the European Union (EU), Slovenia acknowledged the harm caused by the use of EWIPA on several occasions, including during the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 2011,[6] 2012,[7] and 2013,[8] and at the UN Security Council Open Debate War in Cities: Protection of Civilians in Urban Settings on 25 January 2022.[9] The EU also spoke out against the use of EWIPA during the General Debate of the 72nd UN General Assembly First Committee in 2017, recognising its potential impact on civilians and calling on all parties to armed conflict to fully comply with international humanitarian law (IHL).[10]

Slovenia aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitment to “Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity” in its national capacity and as an EU member state in May 2016. This included the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”[11]

Slovenia endorsed the joint statement on EWIPA during 73th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2018. The statement, delivered by Ireland, called attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of EWIPA and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm.[12] Slovenia also endorsed the joint statement on EWIPA during the 74th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2019.[13] The statement, also delivered by Ireland, encouraged states to participate in international efforts to address the impacts of the use of EWIPA on civilians, including by working towards the creation of an international political declaration on this issue.[14]

Political declaration

Slovenia participated in the second round of consultations for a political declaration on the use of EWIPA in 2020.[15] It submitted a written contribution, highlighting the following elements:

  • It agreed with a proposal that the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) get a more prominent place in the declaration.
  • It suggested the inclusion of an appeal for universalisation of relevant instruments in the field of disarmament. It proposed the following text within Section 3 or 4 of the draft: “Strengthen the efforts pertaining to the universalisation of relevant disarmament instruments, such as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”
  • It suggested the inclusion of a reference on relevant standards on marking, clearance,
    removal and destruction of explosive remnants of weapons (ERW) in paragraph 3.6.
  • It suggested the inclusion of a reference on education on ERW and IED risk education in paragraph 4.3.[16]

 

[1] Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations (2011). “Statement to the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/slo_poc_10may2011_0.pdf.

[2] UN Security Council (2017). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7951

[3] UN Security Council (2019). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.8534. 

[4] Human Security Network (2013). ‘Statement to the August UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/chile_poc_august_2013_debate__0.pdf. 

[5] Human Security Network (2014). Statement to the February UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/statement_-_slovenia__human_security_network__0.pdf. 

[6] European Union (2011). ‘EU Statement during the May 2011 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/eu_poc_11may2011_0.pdf.

[7] European Union (2012). ‘EU Statement during the June 2012 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. http://www.peacewomen.org/security-council/security-council-open-debate-protection-civilians-armed-conflict-june-2012/.

[8] European Union (2013). ‘EU Statement during the August 2013 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’.

[9] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2022). ‘UN Security Council Debates War in Cities and the Protection of Civilians’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.

[10] European Union (2017). ‘UNGA First Committee Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/18Oct_EU.pdf.

[11] Agenda for Humanity. ‘Slovenia’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholders/commitments/254.html. 

[12] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2018). ‘UNGA73 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA)’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/25Oct_EWIPA.pdf.

[13] INEW (2019). ‘Seventy-one States call for Action on Impact of Explosive Weapons in Joint Statement to UN General Assembly’. https://www.inew.org/seventy-one-states-call-for-action-on-impact-of-explosive-weapons-in-joint-statement-to-un-general-assembly/.

[14] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2019). ‘UNGA74 First Committee Debate on Conventional Weapons: Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas Delivered by H.E. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, 2019, https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf.

[15] Laura Boillot, Article 36 (2020). ‘More than 70 States Engage in Discussions on Political Declaration’. https://article36.org/updates/more-than-70-states-engage-in-discussions-on-political-declaration/. 

[16] Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations (2020). ‘Written submission’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ewipa/declaration/documents/written-submission-Slovenia.pdf.

 

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