Fifty-sixth General Assembly

Plenary

60^th Meeting (AM) 

PARTNERSHIP WITH PRIVATE SECTOR HIGHLIGHTED AS ASSEMBLY

DEBATES ASSISTANCE IN MINE ACTION

Partnership with the private sector was an important component in addressing the global landmine problem, Canada's representative told the General Assembly this morning as it took up consideration of assistance in mine action.

The Ottawa Convention provided a comprehensive framework for addressing the issue, he said, and the United Nations had shown great initiative in coordination and resourcing, providing assistance and information in quality management, as well as training and standard-setting.  Experience in Croatia and Kosovo, however, had shown that the need for international assistance could be reduced by enabling individuals and corporations to contribute to the common cause -- an important element in ensuring the sustainability of mine-action efforts.

The representative of Libya, however, said the Ottawa Convention lacked language referring to the legal responsibility of States that had planted mines.  It also lacked provisions for compensation to affected countries.  Mines should be cleared and their victims compensated by those who had planted them. 

He said Libya had reached agreement with Italy over mines laid in World War II.  Other countries should follow suit.  In Afghanistan, military actions were forcing civilians to leave their land and live in mined areas often covered by snow.  Those people needed immediate help.

Speaking on behalf of the Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua's representative said information management and publicity were important aspects of mine action.  A comprehensive mine-action programme was being conducted in his region in concert with the Organization of American States (OAS).  Supported by regional authorities and civil society, it provided for affected countries to contribute logistical support, while others such as the United States and Canada contributed training and technical advice.

“Landmines are creatures of context,” Israel's representative said.  An atmosphere of terror and threat gave them birth, cooperation and goodwill between States weakened them.  Confidence-building measures such as joint programmes for rehabilitation of mine victims were important contributors to stability in a region.  Israel had worked with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Angola and with Jordan, Canada and Norway.

Also speaking this morning were the representatives of Belgium (on behalf of the European Union), Pakistan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Norway, Japan, Peru, Sudan, Egypt, Thailand, Uruguay, Republic of Korea, Croatia, Belarus, Argentina and Slovenia.

The Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to conclude its consideration of assistance in mine action.  It also expects to elect the new Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), and to consider the South Atlantic zone of peace and the 2002 United Nations Year of Cultural Heritage.

Background

The General Assembly met this morning to consider assistance in mine action and elect the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.  It would also consider the zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic and the United Nations Year of Cultural Heritage, 2002.

Assistance in Mine Action

Before the Assembly was a report (A/56/448 and Addendum 1 and 2) of the Secretary-General on assistance in mine action.  The report highlights the key developments, achievements and challenges of mine action during 2001:  global coordination and resource mobilization; assistance to national and local authorities; emergency assistance; information management; quality control, training and standards; and advocacy. 

While important progress was made in mine action, the number of countries and areas that need assistance continues to grow, the report observes.  Adequate resources to tackle those needs remain a constant challenge, as Member States continue to call upon the Organization to assist in areas affected by mines and unexploded ordnance, and in implementing their treaty obligations.

The report states that, due to recent dramatic reductions in production and use of anti-personnel landmines, the threat of landmines could be eliminated within a definable time-frame in some of the world's most severely affected countries.  Achieving this will require sustained commitments from all those involved in the international effort.    

Addendum 1 to the report outlines strategic goals and specific objectives for United Nations mine action.  The goals suggest areas of priority for the international community as a whole, while the objectives correspond to specific contributions the United Nations system intends to make to achieve each goal by 2005.  For each objective, the relevant United Nations agencies will set up action plans with time lines, progress indicators and supporting outputs.

The international community is encouraged to produce information about mine-action problems, put in place a rapid-response capability to meet mine-action requirements in emergency situations, and set up national and local capacities to plan, coordinate and implement mine-action programmes.  It should also implement mine-action operations in a safe and cost-effective manner, mobilize and effectively coordinate adequate resources for mine action and develop, ratify as well as implement international instruments to tackle the mine/unexploded ordnance problem worldwide.

Progress in achieving the goals and objectives will be reported annually to the Assembly in the report of the Secretary-General on assistance in mine action. The strategy will be formally reviewed and evaluated in 2003, which will involve wide consultation with United Nations partners.

Addendum 2 defines the key principles of United Nations mine-action information management, and clarifies the roles and responsibilities in this regard within the United Nations system.  Mine-action information management supports mine awareness and risk-reduction education, minefield survey, mapping, marking and clearance, victim assistance, stockpile destruction, advocacy and treaty implementation.

Data collection on mine action needs to be closely coordinated to avoid duplication, and should incorporate proper quality control mechanisms, the report states.  At the field level, national and local mine-action programmes and mine-action coordination centres are responsible for coordinating all mine-related data.  The United Nations will ensure that these efforts are integrated with other information management efforts.

      Collected information will be analyzed to address socio-economic factors and criteria for improved decision-making in mine-action, and support national humanitarian and socio-economic objectives.  The United Nations will develop a knowledge base of guidelines and best practices for country mine action programmes and information managers on using collected data to support management decision-making.  All mine action-related information collected by or made available to the United Nations will be considered public information and dealt with as such.

Election of UNEP Executive Director

The Assembly had a note (A/56/516) from the Secretary-General nominating Klaus Töpfer (Germany) for re-election as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for a four-year term, beginning 1 February 2002 and ending 31 January 2006.  In 1997, the Assembly elected Mr. Töpfer as Executive Director of UNEP for a four-year term, beginning 1 February 1998 and ending

31 January 2002.

A United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Töpfer is also Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), and previously served as Acting Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat).  He has enjoyed a distinguished political career in Germany, which has included positions as Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development and Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Zone of Peace and Cooperation in South Atlantic

Before the Assembly was a report (A/56/454 and Addendum 1) of the Secretary-General on the zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic.  The Assembly on 29 November 2000 adopted resolution 55/49 entitled "Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic", which took note of the Secretary-General’s report (A/55/476) and requested relevant United Nations bodies to give all appropriate assistance to States members of the zone that might seek in their joint efforts to implement the Declaration of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic.

The Secretary-General addressed a note verbale dated 16 May 2001 to governments requesting their views on implementing the declaration of the Zone.  As of 30 September 2001, replies had been received from the Governments of Argentina, the Dominican Republic, the Gambia and South Africa.

By the same date, replies had been received from the following United Nations bodies:  Department for Disarmament Affairs; the Department of Public Information (DPI); the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP); the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Addendum 1 of the report contains the reply from the Government of Brazil.

The Assembly also had a draft resolution on the subject (A/56/L.12), whereby it would affirm the importance of the South Atlantic to global maritime and commercial transactions, and its determination to preserve the region for all peaceful purposes and activities protected by international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

By the terms of the draft, the Assembly would call upon all States to cooperate in promoting the objectives of the zone of peace and cooperation and refrain from any action inconsistent with those objectives, in particular actions that might create or aggravate tension and potential conflict in the region.

The Assembly would also call upon Member States to continue their efforts to achieve the appropriate regulation of maritime transport of radioactive and toxic wastes.

By the same terms, the Assembly would view with concern the increase in drug trafficking and related crimes, and would call upon the international community and the States of the zone to combat the drug problem as well as related offences.

It would request the relevant organizations, organs and bodies of the United Nations system to render all appropriate assistance that States of the zone might seek in their joint efforts to implement the declaration of the zone.

The draft resolution is sponsored by Argentina, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo and Uruguay.

United Nations Year of Cultural Heritage, 2002

The Assembly had before it a draft resolution (A/56/L.13) on the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage, 2002, sponsored by Belarus, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nepal, Russian Federation, Spain, Ukraine and Uruguay.

By the terms of the draft, the General Assembly would proclaim the year

2002 as the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage and invite the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to serve as the lead agency for the year.  The General Assembly would call upon Member States, observers, national and international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to make voluntary contributions to finance and support activities aimed at promoting and protecting national and world cultural heritage.

Further to the draft, the Assembly would decide to devote one day of plenary meetings at the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly on 4 December

2002 to mark the end of the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage.

Statements

STEPHANE DE LOECKER (Belgium), speaking for the European Union, said the events of recent weeks had shown again that anti-personnel mines were a major humanitarian problem.  The situation in Afghanistan -– one of the countries most affected by unexploded mines and devices –- was a sad illustration of this fact.  Between March 1998 and December 2000 at least 2,812 people had been the victims of unexploded mines or devices.  Apart from the catastrophic human effects, there were also immense social and economic consequences for post-conflict development and for the restoration of normal social conditions.  The presence of mines was also often an obstacle to the convoying of humanitarian aid, since in many cases detours had to be made before the people could be reached.

Regrettably, those observations applied to many regions of the world.  That was why the European Union regarded this as a fundamental problem.  Mine action was the best response to this scourge since it dealt with the problem on a global scale.  Education and making people aware of the danger of mines were essential first stages; assistance to the victims was also a major pillar of mine action.  Aid to these people and their reintegration into society were also fundamental aspects.  Mine clearance was also essential and must be carried out as a matter of priority in places where the civilian populations were likely to be affected.  This was why it was important both to promote international legal instruments on the subject of anti-personnel mines and to promote the destruction of stocks of such mines.

He stressed the need for effective coordination at the national level in order to draw up national action plans; plan the supply of services; facilitate the formulation of policies; repair or avoid any shortcomings in the services provided; ensure a fair allocation of such services; facilitate the sharing of information; reinforce national capabilities; ensure that the beneficiaries of the activities were involved in them and were able to take control of them; coordinate research; and ensure coordination of the activities of all parties concerned both inside and outside the country.

MASSOD KHALID (Pakistan) said it was alarming that more than 60 developing countries were suffering because of the irresponsible use of mines as a result of foreign occupation or internal conflict.  The civilian population had been the main victim.  In Afghanistan, 10 million landmines were scattered over the country.  The victims were treated in Pakistani hospitals.  His country was already burdened by the presence of 3 million Afghan refugees.

He had taken note of the Secretary-General’s 5-year strategy for the United Nations Mine Action Programme.  It was important that the United Nations had given due emphasis to coordination and resource mobilization as a part of its strategy.  He had also noted in the Portfolio of Mine-related Projects the large gap between the enormity of the task to clear mines and unexploded ordnance in various countries and the scarce resources available for the realization of those tasks.  He said the primarily agrarian economy of Afghanistan could not be rehabilitated until contaminated land was cleared.  Casualties as a result of landmines placed an enormous strain on the already overburdened hospital system, and vital emergency and assistance aid was hindered by the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance.

He said his country had declared a moratorium on the export of landmines since 1997, and had ratified the amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

ALOUNKEO KITTIKHOUN (Lao People's Democratic Republic) said that although significant achievements had been recorded in the field of assistance in mine action since 1993, innocent people were still being injured or killed by landmines in several countries around the world.  The unpredictable flow of resources in these countries meant that there was difficulty in implementing demining programs. Therefore, every effort should be made to intensify international cooperation, promote coordination between all partners and provide adequate resources in order to ensure the full implementation of the policy and strategy for mine action.

No other country in the history of warfare had withstood the kind of aerial bombardment that his country had from the period of 1964-1973 during the Indochina war.  The legacy largely unknown to the international community, was that more than 3 million tonnes of explosive ordnance had been dropped on his country.  As a consequence, the Lao People's Democratic Republic was still seriously affected today by these leftover ordnance scattered throughout the land.  Indeed, it constituted one of the root causes of poverty.  Although the war had ended more than 25 years ago, the remains of unexploded ordnance had caused about

12,000 accidents, including 6,000 deaths.

Since 1996, in order to address this problem, his government had drawn up a comprehensive programme, with the objective of reducing the number of civilian casualties and increasing the amount of land available for food production and other development activities.  Now more than 11 hundred Laotian staff had been performing their activities with the assistance of foreign experts.

ARNE BIRGER HONNINGSTAD (Norway) said since the adoption of the 1997 Mine Ban Convention, a dramatic decrease in production and trade of anti-personnel mines had been achieved.  Anti-personnel mines still represented a threat to millions of people and were a significant obstacle for economic and social progress.  There were still many States that had not signed or ratified the Convention.  The fact that 15 governments and 30 rebel groups were using the weapon was unacceptable.  That one State Party might be violating the Convention was disturbing.

Unlike many other international processes, the Ottawa process had managed to accomplish a strong partnership between governments and the community of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), he said.  NGOs served in an important monitoring role.  The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining was playing an increasingly important role in the implementation of the Convention.  At the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua in September, it was agreed that an Implementation Support Unit should be established as part of the Centre, something which Norway saw as a positive step.  The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) played a central role in promoting a strategic and coordinated collective response to the global challenge.   Norway looked forward to the continued United Nations focus on its role in improving the coordination of mine action within the United Nations system.

The future of funding was closely linked to the importance of coordination mine action activities.  It had to be ensured that available resources were used in the best possible way.  Mine affected States must take ownership of mine action activities.  Effective coordination at the national and local levels was key to achieving efficient use of mine action efforts.  His country would continue to attach great importance to assistance to mine victims and earmarked funds for that.  A great challenge to the Convention was compliance, he said, and it was imperative that all obligations of that convention were met by the States Parties.

EIJI YAMAMOTO (Japan) said it was a stark reality that countless landmines remained to be cleared, and the number of landmine victims was still at least 150,000 a year, many of whom were women and children.  Japan had maintained a comprehensive dual-track approach consisting of endeavours to achieve a universal and effective ban on landmines, on the one hand, and strengthening assistance for mine clearance and victim assistance on the other.  He was therefore pleased to see that the number of States Parties now stood at 122, and he hoped that other countries would join the Ottawa Convention at the earliest possible stage.

In the fields of mine clearance and victim assistance, Japan continued to make considerable financial contributions through a variety of multilateral and bilateral channels, he said.  For instance, it had disbursed a total of

$5.7 million in the last fiscal year to a range of mine action projects around the world.  Japan had also contributed nearly $10 million to the United Nations Trust for Assistance in Mine Action managed by the United Nations Mine Action Service over the past four years.

Together with these financial contributions, Japan had striven to support a variety of mine action activities, he continued.  With a view to reducing injuries among children by providing high-quality information and conducting education activities, Japan had made a financial contribution to facilitate the development of the International Standards for Mine Awareness Education.  Japan had also attached great importance to victim assistance.  Not only must medical and psychological assistance and artificial limbs be provided, but employment opportunities must be created and assistance extended to achieve reintegration into society.  Those were the keys to enhancing the well-being of landmine victims, and on the basis of that belief, Japan had supported projects on victim assistance in Cambodia and Afghanistan.

OSWALDO DE RIVERO (Peru) said that when facing anti-personnel mines, as when facing terrorism, there could be no ambiguity.  They must be eliminated or accepted with all the consequences of the material and moral damage they caused.  In Peru, as with terrorism, it had been decided not to be ambiguous with regard to the mines.  On 13 September, Peru had concluded the destruction of the

321,368 anti-personnel mines that formed part of the Peruvian arsenal of these devices.  That process had had the support and verification of the representatives of the international community, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the International Red Cross Committee and civil society.

Peru was also today fully coordinating with the police forces to remove the mines from 1,400 high voltage towers that had needed protection during the time terrorism in Peru.  The effective removal of mines had been concluded to date concerning 242 of those towers.  Peru continued with the removal of mines from its border with Ecuador, in fact, the process had been concluded on 4 kilometres of the 9 that made up the mined area.  With Ecuador, Peru had managed to agree upon the establishment of an area free from anti-personnel mines between the two countries.  His Government had also pledged with Chile to continue to comply with the provisions of the Ottawa Convention, reasserting Peru’s commitment to eliminate the existing mines on the common border as soon as possible.  For that purpose, national programmes would be developed, in accordance with the availability of human, financial and technological resources.

ABDELHAFIZ AL-AWAD (Sudan) said his country was one of the countries which was a victim to mines.  It was committed to eliminating the danger they presented since there was a large number of civilian victims.  Sudan was one of the first countries to sign the Ottawa Convention and welcomed the results of the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua.

He had taken note of the report and of the five-year strategy on landmine activities and he hoped that the view of countries affected by mines would be taken into account.  According to the report, mines continued to be found in the south of Sudan.  The rebel movement responsible for planting those mines had defied appeals to stop such action, which had also reduced economic activities in that part of the country because people had to leave.  He welcomed United Nations efforts to promote awareness of the problem.  He hoped that equal treatment would be given to all countries.  Resources should be channeled appropriately to serve the interests of the countries concerned.

As part of demining activities, a national network had been set up to bring together all organizations involved to discuss what was needed for demining and give assistance to persons economically affected.  The network also gave expertise to governmental institutions, he said.

MAHMOUD MUBARAK (Egypt) said that his country was one of the States most affected by the problem of landmines, which numbered around 23 million and were spread along an area of more than 280 thousand hectares.  That was hindering efforts to develop those areas and posed a constant threat to their inhabitants, indiscriminately claiming the lives of more than 8,000 people.  To face the destructive effects, the Egyptian authorities had already started, since 1991, an ambitious plan aimed at clearing the terrain from landmines.  The implementation of that plan, however, was imposing a heavy financial burden that could not be confined to the Egyptian Government, which bore no responsibility for planting those landmines.

His delegation had taken note of the Secretary-General’s report on assistance in mine action.  While welcoming an annual submission of such a report, as one of the tools of spreading international awareness of the landmine problem in general, he had noticed that it had not taken into consideration Egypt’s case, as one of the most affected States when it came to landmines.  Thus it was not in conformity with its own purpose and basic role.  His country also believed that the United Nations Mine Action Strategy for the period 2001-2005 was a retreat from United Nations policy that had been adopted in 1998.  It was lacking and insufficient with regards to the needs of affected States.

Concerning to the Ottawa Convention, he asserted that in spite of Egypt’s support for the humanitarian purpose of the Convention, it held many reservations. This is why Egypt was calling for a more thorough study of the landmines issue in the international negotiating forum that was directly related to the problem, the Conference on Disarmament, in order to rectify the shortcomings of the Ottawa Convention which ignored the primary responsibility of States that had planted landmines to assist in removing them; did not provide for the necessary assistance in the convention; and had not paid attention to the rights of States to secure and defend their national borders.

CHUCHAI KASEMSARN (Thailand) said national efforts in mine action would be enhanced manifold if complemented by regional cooperation.  Thailand, in cooperation with Handicap International and with the assistance of Switzerland, Germany and Norway, had hosted the first ever Regional Conference on Mine Victim Assistance in November.  Such conferences encouraged the adoption of regional approaches and cooperative ventures to help find the most effective and feasible means for victim assistance.

No mine action activities could have a significant impact without cooperation and assistance, either bilateral or multilateral, he said.  Resources and expertise were never enough to achieve all that his country wanted to do, namely, to rid it of landmines.  Meaningful partnerships between affected countries and the international community, as well as the provision of adequate assistance and expertise to those needing them, must be part of the global endeavour to create a mine-free world, and alleviate the suffering of the victims.

Thailand appreciated the assistance it had received from the international community in mine action, he continued.  The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Norwegian People's Aid, to name a few, had helped in mine action, such as conducting impact surveys in Thailand.  The UNMAS and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) had assisted in developing information management systems for mine action.  Many other countries, through bilateral programmes, had played their part.

SUSANA RIVERO (Uruguay) said that her delegation was grateful to the Secretary-General for his report, which gave a detailed picture of recent mine action.  It was encouraging that a number of advances had been made in 2001:  for example, 30 countries were directly assisting with the problem, and a five-year strategy had been formulated.  She hoped that the Secretariat would continue to consider the financing of mine action services, so that countries could obtain the resources to implement projects already under way.  Her country was also impressed by the level of coordination and cooperation that had been established with the Geneva International Centre for Humane Demining, UNDP and various seminars and training activities.

For Uruguay, she said, the draft resolution regarding mine safety was very important.  Uruguay also attached importance to the safety manuals, videotapes and brochures that had been produced.  Those should continue to be produced.  At the national and global levels, every effort must be made to stop the production and use and stockpiling of landmines.  Uruguay supported the draft resolution and hoped it would be adopted by consensus.

DANIEL LIVERMORE (Canada) said that it was no coincidence that the Secretary-General had identified the main challenge areas where the Ottawa Convention had yet to be accepted.  Through its unequivocal ban on anti-personnel mines and its meaningful provisions on cooperation and assistance, the Ottawa Convention provided a comprehensive framework to address the global landmine problem.  The United Nations had shown great initiative by playing a leading role in:  global coordination and resource mobilization; emergency and ongoing assistance to mine-affected countries and areas; information management; and quality management, training and standards.  During the past year, the United Nations had become more engaged than ever in mine action indicating how indispensable the United Nations was in this common effort. 

Canada was extremely grateful that the United Nations was providing direct support to 30 countries.  In addition to providing that valuable ongoing support, the United Nations had demonstrated in Croatia and Kosovo that its support must ultimately reach the stage where a high level of international assistance could be significantly reduced.  Partnership with the private sector was an important area identified in the Secretary-General’s report.  Providing avenues for individuals and corporations to contribute to that common cause was an important element in ensuring the sustainability of mine action efforts.  In this regard, he was pleased that the Canadian private sector had become actively engaged in the United Nations’ "Adopt–A-Minefield" campaign through the Canadian Landmine Foundation’s "Night of 1,000 Dinners" initiative.

In addition to sharing a common cause in addressing the global landmine problem, there was a shared responsibility to the memories of those killed as a result of the use of those weapons and an obligation to assist the victims of landmines.  Canada remained committed to constructive international work to fulfil its moral and legal obligations.  He looked forward to the day when the world would be free from the terror of landmines.

ISA AYAD BABAA (Libya) said the number of mine victims was larger than the number of victims of nuclear attacks.  New anti-personnel mines had been developed in the form of children’s toys, radios and pens.  It was a most hideous weapon, because mines did not distinguish between children, women, civilians or soldiers.  Mines were meant to mutilate and maim them, and rehabilitation required great financial resources.  Also, conflicts could be resolved; wars came to an end; soldiers went home; but the mines continued to be concealed as a permanent and daily threat to the civilian population.

Libya had suffered from the problem of mines planted during the Second World War.  Allied and Axis forces had planted millions of mines in the area, causing thousands of innocent casualties in addition to impeding the development of the mined region as well as efforts to combat desertification.  Planting mines was the responsibility of the countries who had waged war.  Those countries should clear the mines and pay damages to the victims.  An historic agreement between Italy and Libya concerning demining activities and a joint fund for rehabilitation of the areas was an excellent precedent and he called on the States involved in the problem to follow suit.  The Ottawa Convention lacked language referring to legal responsibility of States that had planted mines, as well as the right of affected countries to be compensated for damages suffered.

While conflicts continued, demining had to go on as well.  In Afghanistan, military actions forced civilians to leave their land and live in mined areas, often covered by snow.  That required speedy assistance to help the people there cope with the problem, he said.

AARON JACOB (Israel) said the Secretary-General’s report on assistance in landmines summed up the discovery –- only 10 years old -- that action by individual States was no longer enough to neutralize the humanitarian threat posed by anti-personnel landmines, especially in post-conflict situations.  “Landmines are creatures of context,” he said.  An atmosphere of terror and threat gave them birth; cooperation and goodwill between States weakened them.

For its part, he continued, Israel had ceased producing anti-personnel landmines and had declared a moratorium on their export that extended to 2002.  It had also ratified the relevant protocol to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).  Those steps were taken in recognition of the fact that international cooperation in the areas of mine clearance, awareness and victim rehabilitation were of major importance.  For six years, in conjunction with UNICEF, Israel had been conducting a joint mine-clearance project in Angola, educating populations to the hazards of mines and funding the project.  It had also taken on joint projects with Jordan and with Canada and Norway, on behalf of Jordanian mine victims.  In April, Israel had hosted a workshop on rehabilitation of victims.

Such steps served as important confidence-building measures, he concluded.  They contributed to stability in the region.  In concert with cooperation in demining and reconciliation between past adversaries, they were the best way to achieve the ultimate goal of a “total ban” on landmines and the hostilities that perpetuated them.

LEE KIE-CHEON (Republic of Korea) said that since the issue of mine action had been adopted as an agenda item of the General Assembly in 1993, international efforts to tackle the problem had made substantial progress.  As a result, the production and use of anti-personnel landmines was on the wane; a de facto moratorium on the transfer of such weapons was coming into being; a number of areas had been demined; and millions of stockpiled landmines had been destroyed.  Most importantly, there had been a significant decline in the number of mine-related casualties.  While that progress was laudable, one must not lose sight of the current reality, he said.  Landmines continued to pose a deadly threat to innocent civilians in conflict and post-conflict areas. 

Clearly there was a need for the international community to better address the plight of those in mine-affected countries, he said.  In tackling the problems associated with anti-personnel mines, a comprehensive approach was essential.  Such an approach must encompass mine clearance, emergency assistance, mine awareness and resource mobilization. 

March 1999 marked the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty, which aimed at a total band on anti-personnel mines, he said.  It also marked the entry into force of Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which restricted the use of anti-personnel landmines.  His delegation shared the view that the Min Ban Treaty provided a comprehensive framework for many aspects of mine action.  However, the Amended Protocol II also included a humanitarian aspect in that it banned the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel mines.  In his view, these two mechanisms must carry equal weight in dealing with mine problems. 

IVAN SIMONOVIC (Croatia) said it was estimated that Croatia had about

1.2 million anti-personnel landmines and other unexploded ordnance scattered over 4,000 square kilometres of its territory.  Mine affected areas had not been used for many years and posed a major economic problem for his Government, as they obstructed infrastructure development and reconstruction, and the return and integration process.  Plans of existing minefields that were missing presented an additional obstacle in the mine clearance problem.  He called on all those who were in the position to provide Croatia with these plans to do so without further hesitation.

To engage in the mine action process took not only courage and time, he said, but also substantial financial assets.  His Government provided about 80 per cent of the funds required for implementing the national mine clearance programme, but due to the sheer magnitude of the problem Croatia would not be able to meet all the remaining needs, so as to complete the programme as planned.  Therefore, he implored all donor countries to support Croatia’s efforts.

He said the development and implementation of new, sophisticated technologies in mine detection was expected in the near future.  Croatia hoped that this would speed up mine clearance procedure, lowering cost and increasing the reliability and safety of the procedure.  In this respect, a Croatian team of experts was looking into the most favorable solutions to achieve the safest and most cost-effective projects for efficient mine action.  The Croatian Mine Action Centre was currently running several research and development projects.

SERGEI LING (Belarus) said that on the whole, his country supported the initiatives aimed at prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, yet was not ready to join the related convention, as it did not possess the resources needed for fulfilling the basic requirements of the document.  Those included the demining of the territory and the destruction of existing stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines.

Belarus continued to suffer from the consequences of World War II.  Large quantities of unexploded ordnance, including anti-personnel landmines still killed and maimed civilians, he said.  His country experienced serious problems related to the destruction of considerable stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines left in the country after the breakup of the Soviet Union.  Special technologies were required to destroy those landmines and would help avoid a new ecological disaster in a country that had already been living with the conditions of radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl disaster.  There were no such technologies in Belarus.

He said Belarus would be able to join the Ottawa convention when it became evident that it would be able to destroy its stockpiles within the time limits.  His Government was interested in receiving international assistance for further demining of its territory and would welcome any related proposals and initiatives on cooperation in those fields.

EDUARDO J. SEVILLA SOMOZA (Nicaragua), speaking on behalf of the Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, said the report on assistance in mine action contained complete information on United Nations policy, as well as information of progress achieved by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other organizations and the work of the Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action.  In that report, the main innovations and achievements as well as problems faced had been mentioned, giving priority to such issues as intersectoral coordination, assistance to local organizations, quality control and publicity activities.  Progress had been made, among other things, in information management.

He said that after the Central American countries move beyond the civil conflicts of the 1980s, they had invited the Organization of American States (OAS) to participate in mine-clearance activities.  In 1991, the OAS had created a successful Assistance Programme for Mine Action, which, in order to cover all aspects, had been expanded into the Comprehensive Mine Action Programme.  The main focus of that programme was humanitarian, reducing the danger as far as possible to restore land use to the people.  The programme had enjoyed the participation of Government as well as civil society, and had been joined by Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.  The affected countries had provided logistical support. Other countries, such as the United States and Canada, had provided training and technical advice.

In Honduras, mine clearing had begun in 1995, he said.  Many regions had been cleared, land recovered and handed over to local authorities.  Honduras was the first country to get rid of its mine stockpiles.  In Costa Rica, mine-clearance along the Nicaraguan border started in 1996.  In Guatemala, a support programme for demining had been established in 1998.  Eight thousand unexploded devices were distributed throughout the territory.  The greatest challenge was in Nicaragua, with 135,000 mines buried during the 1990s.  Although the elimination of 62,000 mines had been reported, 73,000 mines still had to be located.  The army had destroyed 90,000 mines in its stockpile.  Since 1997, in cooperation with Sweden, Nicaragua had been involved in a pilot programme for rehabilitation of mine victims.  In El Salvador, the Government had established a demining programme in 1997.  The OAS programme would be satisfactorily completed in four years.

LUIS E. CAPPAGLI (Argentina) said that the Ottawa Convention set forth international obligations to eliminate anti-personnel mines, whose harmful effects persisted for decades.  His region had been particularly successful in meeting the commitments made in the Ottawa Convention and was seeking to make the entire region free of anti-personnel mines.  The entry into force of the Ottawa Convention provided invaluable legal instruments to the international community by prohibiting a category of weapons as well as strengthening international humanitarian law.  All States must sign the Ottawa Convention as soon as possible, he said. 

In the last 12 months, he said, considerable progress had been made in mine action, particularly in strategic planning, cooperation and management of information.  The momentum was moving towards a definitive eradication of mines from Argentine territory.  There were, however, anti-personnel mines in the Malvinas Islands, he said.  Argentina and the United Kingdom had agreed to conduct a feasibility study in the Malvinas to see what could be done about the situation. 

In terms of the global struggle to rid the world of mines, Argentina was contributing experts who conducted training in various parts of the world.  Argentina had been providing human resources and shared experiences with other countries.  Demining was of utmost importance, which was why Argentina’s military had been active in assisting many countries with its expertise.  Mobile training teams were the most important contribution made by Argentina, he said.

JURE GASPARIC (Slovenia) said that landmines killed and maimed innocents without regard to age, long after conflicts were over.  Landmines did not recognize peace.  They endured, obstructing normal lives and livelihoods; they were a heinous threat to human security and formidable obstacle to social stability and prosperity.  It was very encouraging therefore that the efforts invested in mine action were starting to bear fruit.  There were fewer mine victims, fewer minefields and fewer mine stocks on the Earth already.

Slovenia had signed the Ottawa Convention in 1997, ratified it in 1998, and was determined to destroy its stockpiles by 2003.  Slovenia had already destroyed around 50,000 landmines, which amounted to one third of its stock.  It had also started the internal procedure for adhering to the Amended Protocol II of the

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.  Slovenian foreign policy human security and was fully committed to the objectives of international mine action.

In that spirit, Slovenia had established the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance to support the post-conflict rehabilitation of south-eastern Europe, where a large quantity of mines left over from conflict had been taking a high toll.  They had also prevented refugees from returning the population from resuming normal life, and economic activity from reviving.  He added that the Trust Fund had cleared over 7 million square metres of mine-contaminated land at a cost as low as $2.50 per square metre.

* *** *