The Fourth Meeting of the States Parties was held 16-10 September 2002 in Geneva under the presidency of Ambassador Jean Lint of Belgium.

Key outcomes of the Meeting included the following:

  • The States Parties agreed to focus with even greater clarity on the achievement of the Convention's core humanitarian aims: clearing mined land, assisting victims, destroying stockpiled mines and universalizing the ban on anti-personnel mines.
  • The States Parties placed a strong emphasis on meeting the four-year deadline for destroying stockpiled mines and the ten-year deadline for clearing mined land, noting that the first deadlines for stockpile destruction would occur on March 1, 2003.
  • The States Parties took note of the imperative to provide assistance to landmine survivors, especially given the fact that 15,000 to 20,000 landmine victims each year are added to the hundreds of thousands who already live with the disabilities caused by mines.
  • To help ensure the full implementation of the Convention, the States Parties placed a renewed emphasis on resource mobilisation and the open exchange of information. To promote universal acceptance of the Convention, the States Parties took aim at those states that still use, produce or possess anti-personnel mines, and those armed, non-state actors that do the same.
  • The Meeting demonstrated the continued vibrancy of the Convention's unique culture of practical-mindedness, partnership between states and non-governmental / international organizations, and cooperation between partners from all parts of the world.
  • On the margins of the Fourth Meeting, important discussions were held on promoting adherence to the aims of the Convention by armed, non-state actors and on how demining can be used as a confidence building in peace-processes after internal and interstate conflicts.
  • The States Parties began discussions on preparations for the Convention's First Review Conference, which will be held in 2004. It was accepted that at that time important gains in addressing the global landmine problem will be required and States Parties accepted that stepped up action is required.
  • The States Parties agreed to hold their fifth annual meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, September 15-19, 2003, and that meetings of the four Standing Committees (on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies; Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration; Stockpile Destruction; and General Status and Operation of the Convention) would be held in Geneva February 3-7 and May 12-16, 2003.

Final Report of the Fourth Meeting of the States Parties 
English PDF 206KB | Spanish PDF 232KB

Procedural documents