Phnom Penh, March 28, 2024 - Dr. Ly Thuch led an online meeting on March 27, 2024, aimed at fostering cooperation and enhancing compliance with the Ottawa Treaty among participating states. This initiative took place in Phnom Penh, with Dr. Li Thuch, the 2024 President of the Ottawa Treaty, convening the meeting alongside the Committee on Cooperative Compliance and the Universalization Coordinating Group of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Treaty).

The meeting focused on measures to facilitate treaty implementation, transparency, and the strengthening of compliance among state parties, concentrating on three main areas: addressing allegations of mine use in Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen; legal obligations under Article 9 (National Implementation Measures) of the treaty; and urging state parties to submit Article 7 reports (Transparency Measures).

Additionally, the meeting emphasized the progress of global treaty universalization efforts and the importance of reinforcing compliance, transparency, and obligations under the treaty. The assembly also reviewed the status of 46 state parties failing to fully implement Article 9 due to various reasons and awaited Article 7 reports from 57 state parties, highlighting their commitment to treaty compliance and efforts towards universalization.

The assembly urged continuous scrutiny of states accused of using anti-personnel mines contrary to the treaty's provisions and awaited further reports by May 2024. It also encouraged all state parties to strengthen their compliance, transparency, and treaty obligations, aiming to prepare for an interim meeting on compliance issues in June 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland, to further discuss these commitments and efforts.