On the Meeting of Experts of Protocol V to the CCW chaired by Belarus
28.09.2020On September 28, 2020, under the chairmanship of the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office at Geneva, H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, a session of the Meeting of Experts of Protocol V to the Convention on the Prohibition or Restriction of the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) was convened.
For reference: Protocol V deals with the clearance of “explosive remnants of war” — unexploded and abandoned explosive ordnance. The document stipulates the obligations of the participating States to demine, remove or destroy explosive remnants of war, as well as to establish and strengthen international cooperation for these purposes.
The Meeting of experts is a forum during which its participants share best practices, establish constructive interaction between mine action services, and conclude agreements on attracting donor funding.
For Belarus the issue of clearing the territory from explosive remnants of the First and Second World Wars is still relevant. Since December 2019, more than 4,000 unexploded bombs, shells and other ordnance of those times have been defused by Belarusian sappers.
Belarus is interested in the international cooperation mechanisms, contributing to strengthening national capacity to ensure the safety of civilians.
During the meeting, the head of the Mine Action Center of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Dziamchyshyn informed the participants about the positive experience of the Belarusian side in demining the explosive remnants of war.
