Actions taken:
The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) are milestone treaties in humanitarian disarmament prohibiting categories of weapons that are inherently indiscriminate. Austria has been engaging actively in the universalisation and implementation of these Conventions.
Strongly concerned about increasing cases of use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions as well as rising numbers of victims, Austria has been advocating actively in order to safeguard the humanitarian standards set by these Conventions and further strengthen the Conventions’ norms.
In the period concerned, Austria assumed several functions in the framework of the CCM, including as Coordinator for Stockpile Destruction from 2019 to 2020 and as Coordinator for Victim Assistance from 2022 to 2024. In the APMBC, Austria served as Coordinator for the Committee on Article 5 implementation from 2018-2020. Austria also undertook to explore and make use of synergies between the APMBC, the CCM and related instruments, particularly regarding victim assistance.
Austria continued to contribute financial means for the cooperation with and support to affected States in the field of mine clearance, risk education and victim protection worldwide, including in Ukraine, Syria and the Southern Caucasus.