أ) أهداف التعهد
Armed conflicts are increasingly fought in cities, with significantly deadlier consequences for civilians than when hostilities take place outside of populated areas. The consequences are devastating, with civilian injury, death and damage occurring on a dramatic scale, largely due to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. In parallel, the direct and indirect impact of hostilities destroy critical infrastructure and disrupt services that are essential to sustain life, thus depriving inhabitants of food, water, sanitation, electricity and health care.
With this pledge, Switzerland aims to reiterate its commitment to the protection of civilians and to the promotion of international humanitarian law in urban warfare, 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. Switzerland commits to take a set of clear and measurable actions in that regard.
ب) خطة العمل:
- Develop specific military doctrine and/or review and adapt existing military doctrine(s) to include concrete measures for preventing, mitigating and responding to civilian harm in urban warfare.
- Appoint focal points at the national level to work with relevant government ministries and agencies to review and make recommendations for improving policies and practices related to the protection of civilians.
- Integrate concrete measures for protecting civilians in case of urban warfare into dissemination and military training sessions given to all forces likely to be involved in the planning, decision-making and execution of attacks, during the reporting period and beyond.
- Ensure that armed forces are progressively equipped with, and trained in, the proper means and methods of warfare, i.e. appropriate for use in urban and other populated areas, including weapons that do not have wide area effects, with a view to minimizing the risk of civilian harm.
- Adopt and implement, if not already in place, an avoidance policy to the effect that explosive weapons with a wide impact area should not be used in populated areas unless sufficient mitigation measures are taken to limit their wide area effects and the consequent risk of civilian harm. Ensure that such an avoidance policy and the good practices operationalizing it are integrated into military doctrine, training, planning and practice.
- Take effective steps at the national level to faithfully and effectively implement the 2022 Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas. This includes:
– placing the implementation of the Political Declaration on the agenda of the national IHL committee in 2025;
– launching in 2024 a review of national policies and practices related to the protection of civilians during armed conflict that involves the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and to implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Political Declaration;
– reporting on the implementation of the Political Declaration;
– participating in exchanges of good policies and practices, including military-to-military exchanges, on the protection of civilians and the implementation of the Political Declaration;
– support the work of organisations collecting data on the impact of civilians of military operations involving the use of weapons in populated areas.
- Review military policies, practices and training, and develop and implement appropriate procedures to ensure that the movements of impartial humanitarian organizations, civil defence members and essential service providers are not hindered in case of military operations in urban settings. Engage with the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, other relevant humanitarian actors, and parties to armed conflict to ensure rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, notably through regular humanitarian pauses in armed hostilities in urban areas, in order to facilitate safe and continued delivery of humanitarian, including medical, activities.
ج) مؤشرات قياس التقدم المحرز
- Military doctrines developed or adapted to include concrete measures on the protection of civilians in urban warfare;
- Appointment of focal points to coordinate inter-agency and/or inter-ministerial processes on the protection of civilians in urban warfare;
- Dissemination and military training sessions integrating measures for protecting civilians in urban warfare per year
- Status of the process to review the national policies and practices (not launched, in progress, finalized) and year the review was launched compared to the target year;
- Reporting on 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;
- Amount of financial support provided to organizations collecting data on the impact on civilians of military operations involving the use of weapons in populated areas;
- Number of exchanges of good policies and practices, including military-to-military exchanges, on the protection of civilians and the implementation of the Political Declaration.
د) الآثار المترتبة على الموارد:
N/A