EU Presidency Statement - Mine action

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Associated Countries - Cyprus and Malta, as well as the EFTA country of the European Economic Area - Iceland, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. President,

Allow me to begin by paying tribute to all those people involved in combating anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance around the world - whether as activists, practitioners or donors. Allow me in particular to commend the relentless efforts by the affected communities themselves; the Standing Committees and States Parties to the Ottawa Convention; the United Nations Mine Action Service and all relevant UN agencies; the Mine Action Support Group; the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its many affiliated NGO's; the International Committee of the Red Cross; the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining; and all other institutions and organisations united in their common cause to decrease human suffering and increase human security.

Anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to inflict death and injury all over the world. There are an estimated fifteen to twenty thousand mine casualties every year. Most often innocent civilians are the victims. We must not forget, that assistance in mine action - before anything else - is about saving lives and reducing human suffering. Each step should contribute towards fulfilling this aim. But landmines and unexploded ordnance also have serious secondary - social and economic - consequences: The mutilation of victims places a heavy burden on countries already struggling to make ends meet. In post-conflict societies, landmines and unexploded ordnance impede economic recovery and development by preventing people from returning to their homes and working their land.

Responsibility for addressing the problem of landmines and unexploded ordnance rests with the authorities of mine affected countries. But acquiring the necessary institutional means to deal effectively with the problem sometimes poses a formidable challenge. When national resources are lacking, the suffering caused by anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance needs to be addressed within a humanitarian and development framework. The United Nations can play an important role in both.

Mr. President,

Allow me in this context to commend the Secretary-General's report on assistance in mine action. The report constitutes an important element towards a more systematic and coordinated approach to international assistance in mine action. The European Union and its partners welcome the progress described in the report and support the measures undertaken by the Secretary-General to "optimise" the United Nations mine action strategy for 2001-2005.

The readiness by the United Nations to immediately implement suggestions by Member States regarding cooperation and coordination; integration and prioritisation; scope of mine action; political commitment; and information sharing is particularly praiseworthy.

Important progress is reported regarding the six strategic goals of the mine action strategy. This progress includes improvements in information management; finalisation of a rapid response plan; development of national mine action plans; implementation of surveys; and steps towards improved institutional coordination and integration of mine action into overall assistance and development schemes.

Such measures are all very encouraging and they clearly demonstrate that assistance in mine action is moving in the right direction. Particularly encouraging are the steps towards greater national ownership, sustainability and overall integration of mine action programmes into wider relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development efforts. The formulation of national mine action strategies, and the integration of these into national relief and reconstruction plans, are wholeheartedly encouraged.

However, as stated by the Secretary-General in his conclusions, more needs to be done. Placing humanitarian mine action within the mainstream of humanitarian and development assistance requires further integration at all levels. The European Community will for its part promote such measures through its support to socio-economic impact studies and Landmine Impact Surveys and through its partnerships with affected communities, governments and other humanitarian and development actors.

Long-term development objectives and a firm political commitment by national authorities are crucial to the success of assistance in mine action. Mine action programmes will eventually reach a stage when the most acute threat to populations and economies has been countered or contained - whether through risk education, clearance or marking. At that stage, mine action will gradually develop into a more rehabilitation and development-oriented activity. This has important implications for issues of prioritisation, national ownership and funding. It is important that national mine action strategies are set up with a view to ensuring effective decision making about short, medium and long-term priorities. National and international support to mine action must be sustainable and must encourage and support national initiatives and institutions. The need to devote greater attention to transition strategies, as recommended by the Secretary-General, is highly relevant if a lasting and constructive impact of mine action is to be promoted.

The needs of the mine-affected community must set the basic parameters for assistance in mine action. The allure of operational mine-clearance should not deflect attention from the other - equally relevant - aspects of mine action: advocacy; mine risk education; victim assistance; mapping, surveying and marking; and stockpile destruction. The shift of emphasis in the methodology of Landmine Impact Surveys, described in the Secretary General's report, from square meters and statistics to real life socio-economic impact, is highly desirable. Placing landmines and unexploded ordnance in their proper social context, makes assistance in mine action much more sensitive to the requirements of affected communities.

The European Union and its associated partners believe that anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance need to be dealt with locally and globally: Locally through community-based and national efforts, and globally through the Ottawa Convention, through the UN system and through international cooperation and coordination. Allow me in this context to commend the Mine Action Support Group Chair for its efforts in coordinating donor support. The European Union will devote itself to furthering international coordination and cooperation on mine action and to forge partnerships with all relevant institutions and actors, not least those in mine affected countries.

The European Union will continue its firm support for a universal and speedy implementation of the Ottawa Convention, and the work relating to protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). It is a testimony to the success and momentum of the Ottawa Convention that 130 States have acceded to the treaty. The public advocacy strategy envisaged in the Secretary-General's report should support this process and build on existing networks, with a view to strengthening cooperation with actors already engaged in advocacy and universalisation.

Mr. President,

The European Union will work for greater collaboration and coherence in international assistance to mine action. By pledging a total of EUR 240 million in support of mine action for the period 2002-2009, the European Community has become one of the world's leading donors in this sector. Bilateral assistance from individual EU Member States further emphasises the prominent role played by the European Union in international assistance to mine action.

This important commitment has been underpinned by the adoption in July 2001 of two EC regulations on "action against anti-personnel landmines". The regulations provide for an integrated and focused EC strategy for assistance in mine action, in addition to a multi-annual programming plan for 2002-2004, which is currently being finalised. The EC strategy is written in response to the Ottawa Convention and relates itself closely to the United Nations mine action strategy for 2001-2005. The EC strategy states as one of its key principles that EC support to humanitarian mine action must further the objectives of the international community and promote the effectiveness and efficiency of international assistance in mine action. Assistance through the common EC budget will therefore seek to complement and reinforce measures already undertaken by the international community - by supporting activities, which enhance coordination, management, efficiency and effectiveness.

Mr. President,

The European Union and its partners firmly believe that international law and assistance in mine action will help mitigate the disastrous humanitarian, social and economic consequences of anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance around the world. The European Union and its partners therefore urge all Member States to join the international mine action community in a sustained and global effort to curtail the suffering caused by these indiscriminate weapons. Step by step, mine by mine, assistance in mine action - based on partnership and dialogue - will bring us closer to this objective.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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• EU Mine Action Strategy: 2002-2004 (4/12/2002)