MEETING OF EXPERTS OF CCW PROTOCOL V TO MEET AND DISCUSS ITS IMPLEMENTATION

The Meeting of Experts of the States Parties to Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) will take place from 22 to 24 April 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The Meeting of Experts constitutes the key integral part of the implementation mechanism of Protocol V. High Contracting Parties to the Protocol meet annually to review the status and operation of the Protocol and the meetings of experts are organized prior to those annual conferences. The Meeting of Experts was established with the purpose of providing a forum for consultation and cooperation among the States Parties where those in need can discuss and receive assistance from those in a position to provide such assistance.

The discussions at the expert meetings are chaired by Coordinators who report on their work to the annual Conferences of the High Contracting Parties. The Second Conference last year decided that this year’s Meeting of Experts should especially focus on the following issues:

(a) Clearance, removal or destruction of explosive remnants of war, pursuant to Article 3 of the Protocol, under the overall responsibility of the Coordinator, Ms. Renata Alisauskiene of Lithuania;

(b) Victim assistance, pursuant to Article 8 (2) of the Protocol, under the overall responsibility of the Coordinator, Ms. Angela Robinson of Australia to be assisted by Ms. Danijela Žunec Brandt of Croatia, as Friend of the Coordinator;

(c) Cooperation and assistance and requests for assistance, pursuant to Articles 7 and 8 of the Protocol, under the overall responsibility of the Coordinator, Mr.Gyula Somogyi of Hungary;

(d) National reporting, pursuant to Article 10 (2) (b) of the Protocol and the Article 4 Generic Electronic Template, under the overall responsibility of the Coordinator, Mr. Henrik Markuš of Slovakia;

(e) Generic preventive measures, pursuant to Article 9 and the Technical Annex of the Protocol, under the overall responsibility of the Coordinator, Colonel Jean-Christophe Le Roux of France.

The session aims at sharing knowledge, consultation and cooperation among the States Parties. The results of which will be reported to the next Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V which will be held in Geneva in November 2009.

Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War entered into force on 12 November 2006. At the time, 26 CCW States Parties have expressed their consent to be bound by the Protocol, and today the number has increased to 55.

For more information pertaining to the CCW, consult the official website of the CCW as part of the website of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) at: http://www.unog.ch/ccw.


For use of information media; not an official record

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