General Assembly Session 56 meeting 60

The Acting President

Before turning to the list of speakers, I should like to inform delegates that in a letter dated 22 October, addressed to the President of the General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, in his capacity as Chairman of the Group of Western European and Other States for the month of October, requests that the General Assembly hear in plenary meeting a statement by the Observer of Switzerland in the debate on agenda item 38. In view of the importance attached to the issue under discussion, it is proposed that the General Assembly accept that request.

The Acting President

We will now proceed to the debate. The first speaker on my list is the representative of Belgium, who will speak on behalf of the countries of the European Union.

Mr. De Loecker (Belgium)

I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia -- and the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, as well as Iceland and Liechtenstein as European Free Trade Association countries members of the European Economic Area, associate themselves with this statement.

The events of recent weeks have shown us again that anti-personnel mines are a major humanitarian problem. The situation in Afghanistan -- one of the countries most affected by unexploded mines and ordnance -- is a sad illustration of this fact. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, between March 1998 and December 2000 at least 2,812 people were the victims of unexploded mines or devices. Last year, a quarter of the victims were people on the move, either because they were fleeing conflict or drought or because they were nomads. Beyond the catastrophic human effects, these devices have equally immense social and economic consequences for post-conflict development and the restoration of normal social conditions. The presence of mines is very often an obstacle to the distribution of humanitarian aid, since in many cases it means that detours have to be made to reach the population.

Regrettably, these observations hold for many regions of the world. That is why the European Union considers mines a fundamental problem and has made them one of its priorities. The European Union believes that mine action is the best response to this scourge, since it deals with the problem on a global scale. The five components of such action are complementary and deal with different aspects of the issue. Education and making people aware of the danger of mines are the fundamental stages. It is supremely important to ensure that, as far as possible, civilians living near mined areas do not join the already long list of victims. Assistance to the victims is also a major pillar of mine action. Aid to these people and their reintegration into society are fundamental aspects. Mine clearance is also essential and must be carried out as a matter of priority in places that are likely to affect the civilian population. It is also essential to ensure that areas cleared of mines are not mined again. That is why it is important to promote both international legal instruments on anti-personnel mines and the destruction of stockpiled landmines -- which is the fifth component of mine action.

To ensure optimum allocation of resources, the European Union considers that the action being conducted must be kept under constant review. We have to ensure that we are doing enough. We believe that it is vital to see if any suitable improvements can be made. We also stress 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; remedy or avert any shortcomings in the services provided; ensure the fair allocation of such services; facilitate the sharing of information; reinforce national capacities; ensure that the beneficiaries of the activities are involved in them and are able to take control of them; coordinate research; and, finally, ensure coordination of the activities of all parties concerned, both inside and outside the country.

European Union support for mine action is expressed in particular by the draft resolution that it submits each year to the General Assembly under the agenda item being discussed today. Through its member States and the European Commission, the European Union is the leading provider of funds to mine action. In 2000 its total contributions totalled 125 million euros, and the Union alone provides more than 50 per cent of the total contributions to the Trust Fund. The European Union has also adopted two regulations aimed at strengthening its campaign against mines, and it will also continue to provide assistance to scientific initiatives and research aimed at devising more effective mine-clearance techniques.

The European Union is determined to continue its joint efforts to achieve the total elimination of anti-personnel mines throughout the world. It encourages all States actively to participate in the intersessional mechanism in Geneva relating to the Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines. We welcome the ever-growing number of States parties to that Convention -- 122 to date. The Third Meeting of States Parties, held in Managua last September, represented an opportunity to affirm once again the commitment of all States parties to eradicating, as quickly as possible, these cruel and cowardly weapons.

The Secretary-General's report on assistance in mine action is, for the European Union, a confirmation of the remarkable progress that has been made in the area of mine action, and especially as regards optimized strategic planning, operational support, coordination and information management. As regards planning, the mine-action strategy developed by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for the period 2001-2005 is very important for the transparency and further elaboration of the United Nations policy on mines.

The European Union supports the development -- as provided for in the strategy -- of emergency-reaction plans in order to promote rapid intervention in emergency situations in the context of both humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. This is in line with the report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations. Another important operational development is the continuing improvement in the monitoring of the quality of mine operations, and in particular the revision of the International Mine Action Standards, in cooperation with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. The European Union welcomes the fact that these very useful demining standards have been revised and that they will be supplemented by others, including standards for awareness-raising programmes and for the destruction of stocks. This ongoing process will eventually lead to a full range of standards dealing with all aspects of mine action. The European Union is convinced that the use of these standards will result in an appreciable reduction in the number of victims of anti-personnel mines, especially women and children.

The European Union welcomes the recommendation of the Panel on Peace Operations that UNMAS should become a division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and that two additional posts should be created. This is but a just recognition of UNMAS's coordinating role in the area of mine action.

The true value of these contributions and these untiring efforts is referred to in the draft resolution on assistance in mine action submitted by the European Union. We hope that the draft will receive the widest possible support and that it will be adopted, as in previous years, by consensus.

I should like to conclude by paying tribute once again to all of those who are involved, closely or from afar, in this daily struggle against the scourge of mines, be it be through the United Nations, Governments, international organizations or non-governmental organizations. They all deserve our strong support in their efforts to help relieve the suffering of the victims and to ensure that this inhuman weapon does not cause any more of them.

Mr. Khalid (Pakistan)

For the past decade we have been discussing the consequences of the indiscriminate use of landmines, which continue to haunt the civilian population in various parts of the world. It is alarming to note that over 60 developing countries -- including Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Burundi, Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina -- are suffering because of the irresponsible use of landmines as a result of foreign occupation or internal conflicts. The civilian population has been the main victim of landmines and unexploded ordnance, which has caused serious social and economic problems.

Today in Afghanistan alone there are over 10 million landmines scattered all over the country, which is perhaps the largest mine-strewn area in the world. Most landmine victims are civilians. We are particularly concerned because of the casualties resulting from the landmines. The victims are treated at hospitals in Pakistan, which are already burdened due to the presence of over 3 million Afghan refugees in our country.

My delegation has taken careful note of the Secretary-General's report entitled "Assistance in mine action", as contained in document A/56/448 and its addenda 1 and 2. We are grateful to the Secretary-General for chalking out a five-year strategy, beginning in 2001, for the United Nations Mine Action Programme. We have taken due note of this strategy, which focuses on obtaining comprehensive information regarding mine-infested areas and proposes emergency response and assistance to national and local authorities. It is also important that the United Nations has given due emphasis to coordination and to resource mobilization as a part of its strategy.

We have also taken note of the United Nations document entitled "Portfolio of Mine-related Projects". This document provides an overview of individual country programmes and the involvement of various United Nations agencies in mine action activities. However, we have noted with concern the large gap that lies between the enormity of the task of clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in various countries, especially Afghanistan, and the scarcity of resources available for the realization of those tasks. We are particularly concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, where millions of Afghan refugees are reluctant to repatriate while the threat of mines and unexploded ordnance exists. The primarily agrarian economy of Afghanistan cannot be rehabilitated until contaminated land is cleared. Similarly, casualties as a result of landmines place an enormous strain on the already overburdened hospital system, and vital emergency and assistance aid is hindered by the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Pakistan, for its part, has actively contributed to demining operations in several affected countries. Our participation in demining operations in Kuwait, Cambodia, Angola, Bosnia and Western Sahara reflects our commitment.

Pakistan declared a moratorium on the export of landmines in 1997. We have also ratified Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and have submitted information pursuant to article 11(2) and article 13(4) of Amended Protocol II. We remain ready to consider further measures and initiatives in the relevant multilateral forums to address the problems arising out of the indiscriminate use of landmines.

Mr. Kittikhoun (Laos)

At the outset, I would like to convey my appreciation to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report on assistance in mine action, which highlights key developments as well as significant achievements and challenges faced by the international community. Such an informative report will surely help us in shaping our future activities.

Although significant achievements have been recorded in the field of assistance in mine action since 1993, innocent people are still being either injured or killed today by landmines and other unexploded ordnance scattered on the surface or buried in the soil of several countries around the world. Much more remains to be done in response to the challenges before us. In dealing with this issue, my delegation would like to emphasize some issues that, in our view, are of particular concern. As we all know full well, the number of countries that require and request assistance in mine action programmes continues to increase, while the availability of resources is limited. The unpredictable flow of resources poses a challenge to effectively realizing these programmes. 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.

While recognizing that the primary responsibility lies with national Governments, more complementary international support is required in countries where the scale of mine- and unexploded-ordnance contamination is widespread and severe. In that regard, my delegation fully supports the Secretary-General's observations contained in paragraph 105 of his report on assistance in mine action, issued under the symbol A/56/448. The report stresses the need to obtain adequate resources in response to the increasing needs, while calling upon the United Nations system to provide assistance in areas affected by mines and unexploded ordnance and urging the international community to redouble its effort to support the implementation of the United Nations strategy.

No other country in the history of warfare has withstood the kind of aerial bombardment that our country, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, underwent between 1964 and 1973, during the Indochina war. The legacy, largely unknown to the international community, was the dropping of over 3 million tonnes of explosive ordnance on our small country. As a consequence, the Lao People's Democratic Republic is today still seriously affected by millions of leftover unexploded ordnance scattered throughout the country. In fact, unexploded ordnance contamination directly causes fear, injury, death and stunted socio-economic development. Indeed, it constitutes one of the root causes of poverty in our country.

Although the war ended more than 25 years ago, remaining unexploded ordnance indiscriminately maims and kills innocent people upon detonation. Since the end of the war, about 12,000 accidents related to unexploded ordnance have been recorded, including 6,000 deaths. Today, accidents involving unexploded ordnance occur somewhere in the country every two days. Most alarming of all is the fact that children account for more than one third of all casualties.

In order to address this problem, in 1996 our Government drew up a comprehensive programme whose objective is to reduce the number of civilian casualties from unexploded ordnance and to increase the amount of land available for food production and other development activities. A trust fund for the clearance of unexploded ordnance has been established, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the objective of which is to channel earmarked and non-earmarked contributions to the programme, which focuses on four components: community awareness; training and capacity-building; surveying; and clearance.

It is important to note that significant successes have been achieved in our efforts to nationalize the programme. More than 1,125 Lao staff are now performing their duties without the assistance of foreign experts. A national standard operating procedure has also been developed and the cost-effectiveness of operations has been improved. In addition, last year about 743 hectares of land were cleared and 80,000 items of unexploded ordnance were destroyed. Nearly 200,000 people have been briefed on the dangers of unexploded ordnance. As a result, the number of accidents has been reduced.

We hope to achieve further positive results in the years to come. Let me, on behalf of the Lao Government, express my sincere thanks to the Governments of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as well as to UNDP, UNICEF and the European Union, for the technical and financial support they have extended to us in our endeavours to overcome this problem. It is our fervent hope that the Lao unexploded ordnance programme will continue to receive necessary financial support from our donors, both bilateral and multilateral, in order to enable it to accomplish the task assigned to it.

Landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to be an issue of profound humanitarian concern for the international community. From this perspective, let us work hard together to address this problem, thereby giving those living under the threat of landmines and unexploded ordnance a chance to enjoy a peaceful and productive existence. It is our belief that, through concerted global effort and with the United Nations as a focal point, we can guarantee the most effective response to the tasks assigned to us.