Cluster munition contamination: impact on the economic social and cultural rights of affected communities and on the environment
DATE AND TIME
Wednesday, 13 September 2023, 14:00-15:00 hours
VENUE AND MODE
Palais des Nations Room XXVII – in person
ORGANIZERS
Implementation Support Unit (ISU), United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
INFORMATION
The Convention on Cluster Munitions in its victim assistance provisions requests States Parties to provide age- and gender-sensitive assistance, including medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support to victims, their families and communities and to provide for their social and economic inclusion, in accordance with applicable international humanitarian and human rights law. States Parties of the Convention also have a legal obligation to report annually to the United Nations on risk reduction education activities and measures adopted to provide for the social and economic inclusion of cluster munition victims.
The Convention also provides that States Parties, in the performance of their obligations under Article 3, shall ensure that destruction methods comply with applicable international standards for protecting public health and the environment and that any request for an extension deadline for destruction of cluster munitions addresses the humanitarian, social, economic and environmental implications of the proposed extension.
The Lausanne Action Plan offers concrete actions that highlight the humanitarian, developmental, human rights, and environmental dimension of cluster munitions contamination, destruction and clearance.
The event will address the impact on the economic social and cultural rights of affected communities, discuss case studies on the safe disposal of cluster munitions and look at the indirect impact on livelihoods in case of cluster munitions use in agricultural areas.
Opening remarks: Ms. Mélanie Regimbal, Chief of Staff, UNODA Geneva
Speakers:
- Permanent Mission of Lao People’s Democratic Republic to the United Nations in Geneva (tbc)
- Todd Howland, Director of the Development, Economic and Social Issues Branch (DESIB), Technical Cooperation, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division (TESPRDD), OHCHR.
- Wim Zwijnenburg (Pax International), Humanitarian Disarmament Project Leader (Virtual connection)
- Bui Doan Bach (Norwegian People’s Aid), Environmental coordinator, Vietnam (tbc) (Virtual connection)
Closing remarks: Ms. Pamela Moraga, Director of the Implementation Support Unit of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
CONTACT EMAILS