Wednesday 4 June - Thursday 5 June1. Opening of the meetingThe meeting was opened by its Co-Chairs, Canada and Peru who provided an overview of the seven areas of work focused on during this intersession work programme: (i) an assessment of the status of implementation of Article 5, including providing a forum for relevant States Parties to report on Article 5 completion; (ii) a stock-taking of the process of preparing and analysing requests under Article 5 of the Convention; (iii) a review of how the full range of methods to release “mined areas”, as defined by the Convention, could be used to accelerate Article 5 implementation; (iv) a review of the status of mine risk education efforts; (v) updates on status of implementation by States Parties in the process of fulfilling their Article 5 obligations; (vi) cooperation and assistance as it concerns Article 5 implementation; (vii) updates on other matters that relate to the implementation of Article 5. 2. Overview of the status of implementation of Article 5The Co-Chairs of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies presented a statement on the status of the implementation of Article 5.
3. Stocktaking of the process of preparing and analysing requests submitted under Article 5The President of the 8MSP gave a presentation on the status of Article 5 requests received and the analysis of them:
The following organisations shared their comments on the President’s statement:
The Co-Chairs provided the opportunity for States Parties that have submitted requests to share highlights of their requests with the Standing Committee: States Parties with deadlines in 2009
At this point, the Co-Chairs opened up the floor for comments and questions. The following delegations took the floor: The Co-Chairs continued with statements from States Parties that have submitted requests: At this point, the Co-Chairs opened up the floor for comments and questions. The following delegations took the floor:
The Co-Chairs continued with statements from States Parties that have submitted requests: The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments and questions on the updates provides. The following States Parties and organisations took the floor:
4. Updates from States Parties that have reported completion of Article 5 obligations since the 8MSPThe following State Parties which have completed the implementation of Article 5 since the 8MSP provided updates: 5. Making use of the full range of methods to more rapidly release areas suspected of containing anti-personnel minesIn the afternoon session, the Co-Chairs convened a panel discussion on making use of the full range of methods to more rapidly release areas suspected of containing anti-personnel mines. Tim Lardner of the GICHD gave a comprehensive overview presentation. This was followed with an update by John Flanagan, of the Officer-in-Charge of the UN Mine Action Service on efforts to enhance the UN’s international mine action standards – or IMAS- as concerned land release. Norway in its capacity as Coordinator of the Resource Utilization Contact Group presented a paper which is intended to suggest a course forward for the States Parties on the matter of land release.
The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for delegations to comment on the paper distributed by Norway, in its capacity as Resource Utilization Contact Group Coordinator. The following delegations took the floor:
6. A Review of the Status of Mine Risk Education EffortsA presentation was made by Paula Claycomb of UNICEF on further advances in the field of mine risk education, particularly as it applies to fulfilment of Convention obligations:
The Co-Chairs opened the floor for questions or comments. The following delegations took the floor:
7. Updates from Relevant States Parties on the Status of ImplementationThe session reverted back to updates from States Parties which have indicated that they are in the process of fulfilling obligations under Article 5 of the Convention. The following States Parties took the floor: States Parties with deadlines in 2009The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments or questions. The following delegations took the floor:
States Parties with deadlines in 2010The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments or questions. The following delegations took the floor:
States Parties with deadlines in 2011
States Parties with deadlines in 2012
States Parties with deadlines in 2013States Parties with deadlines in 2014States Parties with deadlines in 2015
The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for comments or questions. The following delegations took the floor: 8. Cooperation and Assistance in Clearing Mined AreasThe Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for updates from States Parties and other in a position to assist those in the process of fulfilling Article 5 obligations. The following delegations took the floor:
9. Update from the Coordinator of the Resource Utilization Contact Group
10. Brief Updates on Other Matters of a Thematic Nature Related to Fulfilling Article 5 ObligationsThe Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for updates on other thematic matters related to fulfilling Article 5 obligations. The following delegations took the floor:
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