Pakistan’s Ambassador Tehmina Janjua chairs successful CCW Review Conference

Ambassador Tehmina Janjua, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to Geneva, presided over the successful conclusion of the Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). Ambassador Janjua was the first woman, and the first developing country representative, to preside over a CCW Review Conference.

The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of certain Conventional Weapons which may be excessively injurious or have indiscriminate effect (the CCW), and its Protocols deal with prohibitions, restrictions and regulation of the use of weapons such as mines, booby traps, incendiary weapons, blinding lasers and explosive remnants of war.

The implementation of the Convention is reviewed every five years, in a comprehensive manner by the Review Conference. These major Review Conferences also consider new types ofconventional weapons of concern, as well as technological developments that impact on the Convention.

The week-long Conference concluded yesterday in Geneva after protracted negotiations on complex issues, including incendiary weapons, use of conventional weapons in highly populated areas, and lethal autonomous weapon systems. The discussions focused on the military utility and humanitarian concerns rising from the use of these weapons.

States Parties to the Convention appreciated the successful outcome of the Conference as a welcome development on the multilateral arms control landscape. Speaking at the final session, Ambassador Janjua said that the Conference had taken “important and far-reaching decisions dealing with different substantive contemporary issues”.

Pakistan’s unanimous election as the President of this important Conference was a recognition of the country’s strong credentials in multilateral diplomacy as well as in international arms control related issues. Pakistan successful stewardship of the Conference towards a substantive outcome was widely appreciated.

Islamabad
17 December 2016

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