EWIPA

What is understood by EWIPA and what is the main concern? 

Explosive weapons are a subset of what is commonly referred to as conventional weapons. Technologically speaking there are many types of explosive weapons, including bombs, artillery shells, grenades, missiles, landmines and improvised explosive devices, which are activated by detonation of a high explosive substance.

Types of weapons that are particularly problematic include indirect fire weapons, such as artillery, rockets and mortars, weapons that fire in salvos, such as multi-launch rocket systems, large air-dropped bombs and surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. Such systems variously involve munitions with a large destructive radius, weapons with inaccurate delivery systems or weapon systems that deliver multiple munitions over a wide area. A populated area is generally understood as a permanent or temporary concentration of civilians and/or civilian objects.

A leading concern is the use of explosive weapons, in particular those with wide-area impacts, in populated areas. Many of these weapons were originally designed for use in open battlefields and are inherently indiscriminate when used in populated areas and therefore result in increased civilian casualties and devastating humanitarian impacts.

The Position of the United Nations

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has highlighted the indiscriminate and severe humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas since 2009. He has consistently used his reports to the Security Council to bring attention to the devastating effects of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on civilians; to appeal to States to formally endorse the Declaration and call on all parties to armed conflict to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, to work to remove conflict from populated areas altogether, and to avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas.

Peace and Disarmament Frameworks

In his Agenda for Disarmament Securing Our Common Future, the Secretary-General placed special emphasis on addressing the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and committed to support States in developing a political declaration as well as limitations, common standards and operational policies in conformity with international humanitarian law.

In his New Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General recommends that States, building on Securing Our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament, “Strengthen protection of civilians in populated areas in conflict zones, take combat out of urban areas altogether, including through the implementation of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas, adopted on 18 November 2022, and establish mechanisms to mitigate and investigate harm to civilians and ensure accountability of perpetrators”.

In the 2024 Pact for the Future, Member States, under Action 14, decided to "restrict or refrain from, as appropriate, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas when their use may be expected to cause harm to civilians or civilian objects, including essential civilian infrastructure, schools, medical facilities and places of worship, in accordance with international law".

Sustainable Development Goals

Target 16.1 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a commitment to significantly reduce all forms of violence and related deaths everywhere. Indicator 16.1.2 includes collection of data on conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, disaggregated by age group, sex, and cause. The collection of disaggregated data on the category of arms used in conflict-related deaths can contribute to evidence-based dialogue to support the development of practice, policies and norms at the global, regional and national levels aimed at protecting civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.