HOME > Intersessional Meetings > June 2004 > 

General Status: Summary and Statements

Monday 21 June

1. Opening of the meeting

The meeting was opened by its Co-Chairs, Ambassador Chris Sanders of the Netherlands and Ms. Socorro Rovirosa of Mexico, and, with the support of its Co-Rapporteurs Ms. Hine-Wai Loose of New Zealand and Ms. Nontombi Makupula of South Africa.

2. General status of implementation

Ambassador Chaiyong Satijpanon of Thailand, on behalf of the President of the Fifth Meeting of the States Parties (5MSP), provided an overview of the general status of implementation, referring in particular to progress in applying the 5MSP President's Action Programme.

  • Statement by Ambassador Chaiyong Satijpanon of Thailand, on behalf of the Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and President of the Fifth Meeting of the States Parties PDF 18KB 

3. Updates on regional conferences

Since the last meeting of the Standing Committee, four States Parties have heeded the call made by the 5MSP to undertaken regional initiatives in advance of the First Review Conference. These States Parties provided updates on these activities. In addition, it was noted that documents pertaining to these regional events can be found on the Review Conference web site (www.nairobisummit.org).

  • Kenya
  • Tajikistan
  • Jordan
  • Lithuania

Two States Parties shared news of plans to hold regional conferences in coming months:

  • Ecuador
  • Thailand

4. General status of universalization

The Coordinator of the Universalization Contact Group, Ms. Shannon Smith of Canada, provided an update universalization efforts and the work of the Contact Group. In addition, Estonia announced its recent accession the Convention.

  • Statement by Ms. Shannon Smith of Canada
  • Estonia

The following States not parties provided updates on steps taken to proceed with ratification of or accession to the Convention.

  • Sri Lanka
  • Ethiopia
  • Egypt
  • Vanuatu
  • Nepal

In addition, the following States Parties or organizations provided views or updates in the context of the topic of universalization.

  • Thailand
  • Japan
  • Turkey
  • ICBL

5. Resource mobilization

The Coordinator of the Resource Mobilisation Contact Group, Ms. Merete Lundemo of Norway, provided an update on efforts to mobilize resources to achieve the Convention's aims. In addition, Thailand provided updates on efforts to engage the World Bank.

  • Statement by Ms. Merete Lundemo of Norway
  • Thailand PDF 13KB 

6. Update on Article 7 reporting

The Coordinator of the Article 7 Contact Group, Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium, provided an update on efforts to promote timely reporting in accordance with the Article.

  • Presentation by Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium PDF 695KB

In addition, the following States Parties or organizations provided views or updates in the context of the topic of article 7 reporting .

  • Guinea
  • Togo French PDF 24KB
  • Guyana
  • Belarus
  • Comoros
  • Central African Republic
  • Namibia
  • ICBL

7. Other matters

Ambassador Chris Sanders of the Netherlands, Co-Chair of the Standing Committee, introduced a revised non-paper on suggested conclusions regarding various areas of implementation, particularly those pertaining to Articles 1, 2 and 3. 

  • Non-Paper presented by the Co-Chairs PDF 20KB

Friday 25 June

8. Contact Group updates

The Coordinators of the Contact Groups provided brief updates on activities that had taken place during the course of the week. In addition, the Coordinator of the Resource Mobilisation Contact Group introduced a background paper which provided an overview of resources generated to date in the context of efforts to fulfill the Convention's aims.

  • Ms. Merete Lundemo of Norway, Coordinator of the Resource Mobilisation Contact Group
  • Mr. Paul Huynen of Belgium, Coordinator of the Article 7 Contact Group
  • Ms. Shannon Smith of Canada, Coordinator of the Universalization Contact Group

9. Matters pertaining to the Convention's compliance provisions

Germany provided a detailed presentation on its experience with verification mechanisms. In addition, the ICRC provided an overview of the status of the States Parties' efforts to take legal, administrative and other measures taken in accordance with Article 9.

In addition, the following States Parties and organizations provided updates or shared views on matters pertaining to the Convention's compliance mechanisms:

  • Senegal
  • Belarus
  • France
  • Mozambique
  • ICBL
  • Congo French PDF 13KB
  • Algeria
  • Thailand
  • Kenya
  • Jordan

10. Matters pertaining to Articles 1, 2 and 3

Two States Parties - Turkmenistan and Lithuania - provided updates on actions taken to reduce or eliminate the number of mines previously reported retained in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention:

The Co-Chairs introduced a revised non-paper containing suggested conclusions regarding various areas of implementation, particularly those pertaining to Articles 1, 2 and 3.

  • Revised Non-Paper presented by the Co-Chairs

A number of delegations contributed to the discussion based on this non-paper, including the following:

  • Argentina
  • Germany PDF 157KB
  • Japan
  • Landmine Action Group
  • ICRC
  • France
  • ICBL
  • Belgium
  • New Zealand
  • Canada
  • Colombia
  • UK
  • South Africa
  • Mexico
  • Australia
  • Chile
  • Jordan
  • ICRC
  • Norway
  • Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch of Austria, President-Designate of the First Review Conference

11. Matters pertaining to the general operations of the Convention

The Chair of the Coordinating Committee, Ambassador Chaiyong Satijpanon of Thailand, provided an update on the Coordinating Committee's activities.

  • Ambassador Chaiyong Satijpanon of Thailand, Chair of the Coordinating Committee

The Director of the GICHD, Ambassador Martin Dahinden, and the Manager of the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), Mr. Kerry Brinkert, provided updates on the ISU. In addition, two States Parties offered comments or made funding announcements regarding the ISU

  • Ambassador Martin Dahinden, Director of the GICHD PDF 120KB
  • Kerry Brinkert, Manager of the ISU
  • Mexico
  • Belgium

The Coordinator of the Sponsorship Programme, Mr. John Wattam of the United Kingdom, provided an update on the Programme.

  • John Wattam of the United Kingdom, Coordinator of the Sponsorship Programme