Vienna Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare
Austria Center Vienna, 1 and 2 October 2019
Armed conflicts are increasingly fought in populated areas. According to “Action on Armed Violence” 20,384 civilians were recorded directly killed or injured by explosive weapons in populated areas in 2018. When explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90% of the victims were civilians. Beyond the immediate deaths and injuries, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas leads to the destruction of essential infrastructure like houses, hospitals, schools, water and electricity supply systems, and is a key driver of population displacement across and within borders.
The protection of civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas can be significantly enhanced. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Secretary-General have independently appealed to parties to armed conflicts to avoid the use, in populated areas, of explosive weapons with a wide area impact.
While existing international law provides a firm basis for protecting civilians from the harm caused by explosive weapons in populated areas, a growing number of governments have voiced concern about the need to enhance this protection and strengthen the application of International Humanitarian Law. Improvement in the policies and practices of parties using explosive weapons would help to prevent or minimize harm to civilians.
The UN Secretary-General has called on states to engage constructively in efforts to develop a political declaration to address the harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
The Vienna Conference will foster a common understanding by discussing the various forms of harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, the legal context and good examples of military practices. Furthermore, the Vienna Conference will provide space for an exchange of views on relevant issues regarding the Secretary-General’s proposal to develop a political declaration.
The Vienna Conference will
- be open to all interested parties. All UN Member and Observer States are invited to nominate participants. International organizations and civil society representatives with relevant expertise are equally invited to participate;
- feature facts based expert presentations followed by discussions and aims to allow for an interactive debate among participants.
More detailed information about the agenda, registration, sponsorship programme and logistics as well as information for media can be found on this website.
Statements High Level Opening Segment
Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs
Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
A message from His Holiness, Pope Francis
List of participants
Conference Information
Conference Programme
Conference Venue
Tourist Information
Sponsorship Programme
Practical Information Note
High Level Biographies
Speaker Biographies
Conference Registration
Background Papers
- PDF: UNIDIR Food-for-Thought Paper "Opportunities to strengthen military policies and practices to reduce civilian harm from explosive weapons"
- PDF: UNIDIR Food-for-Thought Paper Executive Summary "Opportunities to strengthen military policies and practices to reduce civilian harm from explosive weapons"
- PDF: OCHA “Reducing the humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas” unocha.org
- PDF: INEW Briefing Paper on the Protection of Civilians inew.org
- PDF: 2015 ICRC Challenges Report extract on EWIPA
- PDF: Report on EWIPA policy and practice workshop
- PDF: GCPEA "Practical Impact of the Save Schools Declaration"
- PDF: ICRC War in Cities: "Minimizing civilian harm in populated areas: Lessons from examining ISAF and AMISOM policies"
- PDF: Humanity & Inclusion "The Waiting List" blog.handicap-international.org
- PDF: Joint Statement on behalf of 50 delegations s3.amazonaws.com
- PDF: CIVIC ISF Policies-and-Practices Urban Areas 2018
- PDF: POC 20: Twenty Years of the Protection of Civilians
- PDF: ICRC non-paper key points on EWIPA
- PDF: Precedent for a Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas
Links
- WEB: Joint ICRC – UNSG Appeal: ‘Explosive Weapons in Cities: Civilian devastation and suffering must stop’ icrc.org
- WEB: Official Website of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) unocha.org
- WEB: Official Website of the International Network of Explosive Weapons (INEW) inew.org
- WEB: UNAMA report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict unama.unmissions.org
- WEB: Official Website of Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) aoav.org.uk
- WEB: EWIPA Factsheet icrc.org
- WEB: Report of 2015 ICRC Expert Meeting on EWIPA icrc.org
- WEB: ARES Technical Report ‘EWIPA: Technical considerations relevant to their use and effects’ icrc.org
- WEB: ARES Technical Report ‘Indirect Fire: A technical analysis of the employment, accuracy and effects of indirect-fire artillery weapons’ icrc.org
- WEB: Link to the ICRC’s EWIPA webpage section icrc.org