{"id":82550,"date":"2022-04-05T13:13:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T13:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/?post_type=news_and_analysis&p=82550"},"modified":"2022-04-05T15:39:32","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T15:39:32","slug":"geneva-talks-ewipa-urban-warfare","status":"publish","type":"news_and_analysis","link":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/news\/geneva-talks-ewipa-urban-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"At key Geneva meet, US and allies to be pushed on urban warfare restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

State delegates from around the world will meet this week in Geneva for UN-backed crunch talks, working towards a political declaration on restricting the use of wide area effect explosive weapons in urban conflict. If successful, the move could help save thousands of civilian lives.<\/p>\n

Representatives from more than 60 countries will meet from April 6th-8th in the Swiss city of Geneva to try and hammer out the wording of a protocol, or political declaration, on restricting the use of wide area effect explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA).<\/p>\n

As wars have increasingly moved from open battlefields to urban environments, weapons designed for the former are being deployed in heavily populated areas – sharply increasing the risks of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n

UN and civil society reports have repeatedly found that civilians and civilian infrastructure are at most risk when heavy explosive weapons are used in populated areas. This has been clearly demonstrated in recent weeks in Ukraine as Russian forces have pounded civilian neighbourhoods with devastating results, but has also been documented in other recent conflicts across the globe.<\/p>\n

Research by Action On Armed Violence<\/a> indicates for example that around 90 percent of those killed and injured by explosive weapons in populated areas are civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine puts a spotlight on the devastating consequences civilians face when towns and cities are bombed. But this is a pattern of harm that we see elsewhere too: Ethiopia, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria are all recent examples,” said Laura Boillot, coordinator for the International Network on Explosive Weapons, which is leading civil society efforts to restrict EWIPA use.<\/p>\n

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To highlight the EWIPA talks, the campaigning group Humanity & Inclusion has installed a tank made of balloons outside the United Nations in Geneva (Credit: Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen\/Airwars)<\/p><\/div>\n

“This week, states have an opportunity to reduce civilian harm and agree a new international declaration that commits states to avoid the use in populated areas of explosive weapons with wide area effects.”<\/p>\n

In 2019, Ireland convened the first EWIPA negotiations, inviting delegates from every country to join and shape a resolution to change how explosive weapons are used in populated areas.<\/p>\n

In the years since, delegates have continued to gather to discuss the text of the declaration – which will be finalised and ratified by states this summer.<\/p>\n

While not a United Nations process, the EWIPA proceedings are backed heavily by the UN; and Secretary General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called for countries to adopt a strong protocol<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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When explosive weapons are used in populated areas, 90% of the casualties are civilians, causing devastating suffering.<\/p>\n

I again call on countries to avoid using explosive weapons in populated areas. https:\/\/t.co\/OS4OgqJ771<\/a><\/p>\n

— Ant\u00f3nio Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 30, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n