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Fourth International Pledging Conference for the Implementation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention - EU statement

26.02.2019
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Fourth International Pledging Conference for the Implementation of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
Geneva, 26 February 2019
EU statement

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Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The Candidate Countries Turkey, North Macedonia[1], Montenegro*, Serbia* and Albania* and the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina align themselves with this statement.

We are pleased to see you presiding over the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in this important year when we commemorate the 20th anniversary of its entry into force. We appreciate Norway’s leadership in the run-up to the Fourth Review Conference and wish you every success. You can count on the EU to participate and contribute actively to the Review Conference.

Let us also thank you for convening the Fourth International Pledging Conference here today. The annual conferences provide an important opportunity to mobilise the necessary financial resources to help to implement the objectives of the Convention and to renew and strengthen our collective commitments for cooperation and assistance with regard to mine action.

The EU and its Member States have a long history of support for mine action that benefits nearly all heavily mine-affected countries and regions of the world. The EU and its Member States total assistance amounted to 600 million Euros between 2012 and 2016. EU assistance covers the whole scope of mine action: clearance, stockpile destruction, victim assistance, risk education, advocacy and capacity building.

Allow me to address one support project that is particularly relevant for the implementation of the Convention. By means of EU Council Decision CD 2017/1428, worth 2.3 million Euros, the EU aids the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) in assisting States Parties to implement the Convention and to promote its universalisation. Through this action, the ISU has been able to set up national stakeholder dialogues on mine clearance in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Senegal, and on victim assistance in Iraq and in Uganda, in 2018. Further national stakeholder dialogues will follow in 2019 in other countries. We are also proud that the EU is able to support the Presidency of the Convention and the High Level Task Force in their efforts to engage States not party at the political level. In this regard, we recall the EU-funded universalisation visits by the Convention's Special Envoy, His Royal Highness Prince Mired of Jordan, to Myanmar and Sri Lanka last year.

In this context and beyond, we would like to commend the ISU Director and his team for their excellent work. The ISU plays an instrumental role in ensuring the effective operation of the Convention.

To conclude, Mr. President, the EU is fully committed to realising the vision of a landmine-free world by 2025 and will actively support all endeavours to this end. The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is a success story and we are convinced that with collective efforts we will continue its success.

Thank you, Mr. President

 

[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

Category
Statements on behalf of the EU
Location

Geneva

Topics
Security, Defence & Crisis Response
Disarmament, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Export Control
Editorial sections
Disarmament, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Export Control
UN Geneva
United Nations (UN)
Security, Defence & Crisis Response