Phnom Penh, 18 November, 2024 — The Royal Government of Cambodia is only days away from hosting the Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, where more than 600 delegates representing more than 80 countries are expected to attend.
The Conference, taking place from 25-29 November 2024, will be held under the title, the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World. It illustrates Cambodia’s commitment to not only rid the country of these weapons that continue to kill and maim and negatively impact families and the livelihood and development of communities, but also Cambodia’s prominent place in the global mine ban treaty. The Convention, known informally as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, or Ottawa Convention is a 164-member treaty adopted in 1997 widely considered as the most successful humanitarian disarmament treaty in history.
H.E. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister attached to the Prime Minister and First Vice President of the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority is leading the work of the States Parties in 2024 and will preside over the Summit.
“Thanks to the international movement that emerged from impacted countries such as Cambodia, the world has become well aware of the tragic consequences to the use of this indiscriminate weapon.”
Cambodia, which has been at the frontline of addressing the impact of landmine and other explosive ordnance for nearly four decades, was among the first states to sign the Ottawa Convention in 1997 as it opened for signature in Ottawa, Canada.
“Cambodia is an example that with national ownership, international cooperation and assistance, and partnership with civil society, we can make inroads towards development, more equal societies, and a mine-free world,” said the Senior Minister
The five-day Conference will assess progress towards the treaty’s goals and will tackle some of these issues,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, and Zimbabwe are among the 35 States Parties that will provide updates on their progress, strategies and plans to fulfill their mine clearance obligation and efforts to ensure the safety of the populations in mine affected communities.
The Summit will address mine clearance progress and challenges that remain in places like Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Ukraine as well as in countries in West and Horn of Africa where new contamination at the hands of armed non-state actors is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
More than 30 countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Croatia, Ethiopia, and Ukraine are expected to provide information on the status of victim assistance efforts in areas under their jurisdiction or control.
States Parties with outstanding stockpile destruction obligations will address the summit and provide information on progress and challenges in the destruction of more than 3 million stockpiled mines remaining to be destroyed.
States not party like China, Republic of South Korea, Lao PDR, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Viet Nam, and United States of America, are expected to address the conference. The summit welcomes the participation of States not party and seeks to encourage them to take steps to align their landmine policies to the Convention including through the destruction of the millions of anti-personnel mines which may be stockpiled by these States and to join the Convention as soon as possible.
A high-level segment with Dignitaries attending the conference include ministers, vice-ministers, as well as the Vice President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Dr Gilles Carbonnier and the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, H.E. Martin Chungong.
The adoption of a political declaration and a new Action Plan for the period of 2025-2029 will close the summit on 29 November. A final press conference will be held on that day at 13:00 time to-be-confirmed.
Japan will assume the presidency from Cambodia immediately after the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit.
Editorial note: The Convention was adopted in Oslo and signed in Ottawa in 1999, and entered into force twenty-five years ago, on 1 March 1999. It is the prime humanitarian and disarmament treaty aimed at ending the suffering caused by anti-personnel mines by prohibiting their use, stockpiling, production, and transfer, ensuring their destruction, and assisting victims. Together, the States Parties have destroyed almost 54 million anti-personnel mines. The Convention’s implementation has contributed to peace and development by making millions of square metres of land safe again for human activity and providing support to those that have fallen victim to this weapon.
