CCW/CONF.V/7
CCW/CONF.V/7Fifth Review Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions onthe Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which MayBe Deemed to Be Excessively Injuriousor to Have Indiscriminate Effects / 18November 2016
Original: English
Geneva, 12–16 December 2016
Item 11 of the provisional agenda
Review of the scope and operation of the Convention and its annexed protocols
Report of the Implementation Support Unit
Submitted by the Implementation Support Unit
SummaryThis report describes the activities of the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) since the Fourth Review Conference to implement its mandate to support the High Contracting Parties in the administration and implementation of the Convention and its Protocols. Over the past review cycle, the ISU prioritized the work on universalization; organized 10 informal preparatory meetings, 14 conferences, one preparatory committee meeting and is currently underway with preparations for the Fifth Review Conference; provided both administrative and substantive support to these meetings and conferences; supported the work of the CCW Sponsorship Programme; and continued to facilitate and improve communications with High Contracting Parties, observer States and relevant organizations. A major issue has been the upfront financing by States of the ISU and all activities carried out under the CCW.
I.Introduction
1.The ISU has pursued its tasks in accordance with its mandate and has submitted annual reports to the Meetings of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention.[1]At its 2015 Meeting, the High Contracting Parties requested the ISU “to continue to report annually on its activities, including on its estimated costs and actual costs.”[2]This report reflects the work undertaken over the past review cycle and in particular since the 2015 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to 18November 2016.
2.The ISU was established by the 2009 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention.[3] The Unit is located in the Geneva Branch of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), which supports the ISU through a range of services which include, financial, logistical, administrative and personnel management. The Branch also facilitates the ISU’s compliance with United Nations rules and regulations so as to enhance its effective functioning. The Branch is instrumental in coordinating and liaising with the United Nations Office in Geneva’s relevant services supporting the organization of CCW meetings and conferences. The ISU has two staff members: Mr. BantanNugroho, Head of the Unit, and Ms. Hine-Wai Loose, Political Affairs Officer. Since January 2012 the ISU has been assisted by 25 interns.
II.Promotion and universalization of the Convention and its Protocols
3.Throughout the past review cycle, a key area of work for the ISU has been promoting universalization of the CCW and its Protocols. To support the efforts of the office-holders on universalization, the ISU drafted and dispatched joint messages to the Minsters of Foreign Affairs of States which are not yet party to the CCW; drafted briefs on joining the CCW; and organized bilateral meetings with States not yet party to the Convention. The ISU participated in a workshop to promote the universalization and work of the CCW, which was organized by the League of Arab States.[4]The ISU responded to questions from and followed up with individual States on their progress towards joining the CCW. Also, the ISU continued to coordinate with the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) on individual States’ accession processes.The ISU made presentations to a range of groups of students and government officials visiting the United Nations. For a fuller account of the ISU’s activities on universalization over the past review cycle, see the “Report on Universality”, CCW/CONF.V/9.
III.Sponsorship Programme
4.The ISU assisted in organising the work of the Steering Committee of the Sponsorship Programme, which met 13 times between 2012 and 2016. Specifically, the ISU assisted the Coordinator of the Sponsorship Programme in leading the work of the Steering Committee, drafting agendas, minutes of the meetings and the Programme’s annual reports. The ISU assisted with the identification of candidates and closely coordinated with the GICHD on organising the sponsored candidates. The ISU organised briefings for the sponsored delegates on CCW universalization and implementation as well as individual briefings on delegates’ participation in the meetings and conferences.
IV.Meetings of experts and conferences
5.From 2012 to 2016 the ISU organised one meeting of experts on Mines Other Than Anti-Personnel Mines (MOTAPM), five meetings of experts on Amended Protocol II, five meetings of experts on Protocol V, four annual meetings of CCW High Contracting Parties, and one CCW Preparatory Committee for the Fifth Review Conference. The ISU supported all activities of the officeholders for the Convention, Amended Protocol II and Protocol V. This is a total of 14 meetings of experts, 14 conferences and one preparatory committee meeting.
A.Support for the Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
6.Since 2014 the ISU assisted the Chairs of this process with organizing three meetings of experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS).[5] The ISU assisted the Chairs with preparing the agendas, programmes of workand food-for-thought papers; assisted the Chairs and Friends of the Chair with their briefs; assisted in identifying experts; and coordinated with international organisations, non-governmental organisations and academics on their participation. During and following the Meeting of Experts, the ISU supported the Chair and Friends of the Chair in carrying out their responsibilities, assisted with finalizing and submitting the Chair’s report of the meeting; prepared media briefings and press releases,and updated the webpages on LAWS.
B.Support for the meetings of experts on Protocol V and Amended Protocol II
7.For the Protocol V meetings of expertsthe ISU coordinated with the Presidents-designate and the Coordinators on their respective preparations and planning of the meetings of experts and conferences; assisted with the drafting and sending of messages to delegations on behalf of the Presidents-designate and Coordinators; followed-up with States on presenting updates on implementation; assisted with the preparation of briefs;identified expert presentations; followed-up on the questionnaire concerning the managementof munitions sites; provided input on a paper on cooperation and assistance for victim assistance; organized small group discussions on cooperation and assistance and national reporting; assisted the Coordinators with the drafting of their reports, and continued to update the Protocol V website. Prepared the mandated assessments of the national reports, which included two major assessments of all information presented in the Protocol V reports in 2012 and again in 2016.
8.For the meetings of the group of experts on Amended Protocol II(APII) the ISU assisted with the preparation and communication of the Presidents-designate and the Coordinators’ plans to States and international organisations. The ISU also prepared briefings, charts and presentations for the Coordinator on the Operation and Status of Amended Protocol II, and carried out analyses of the different reporting forms (A, B, C, D, E andF)of the national annual reports each year, respectively, in order to better understand how the High Contracting Parties implement the Protocol.
9.The ISU assisted the Co-coordinators with their work on Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in implementing their mandate. The ISU facilitated the drafting, dispatching and the receiving of responses from the High Contracting Parties to the questionnaire on national measures and international cooperation in countering IEDs,which included creating a secured web page on the CCW website for the responses to the questionnaire. In 2016 the ISU facilitated the consultations on the drafting of a Declaration on IEDs containing the contribution of APII on the work on IEDs to the Fifth Review Conference and on thefuture work in this area. The ISU has also contributed to the UN’s work on mine action and IEDs.
C.Support for the Fifth Review Conference and its preparatory process
10.In advance of this year’s Fifth Review Conference and its Preparatory Committee Meeting (Geneva, 31 August – 2 September 2016), the ISU assisted the President-designate of the Fifth Review Conference, Ambassador TehminaJanjua of Pakistan, and other officeholders with preparing briefs, a range of communications and core documents of the review conference and its preparatory committee,[6]and organizing the preparatory committee meeting. Also, the ISU organised informal preparatory meetings on 4 March and 24 June 2016.
V.Communications amongst the High Contracting Parties
11. Communications with the High Contracting Parties, observer States, international organisations and non-governmental organisations are through e-mail messages, faxes,official letters, and the CCW website ( The ISU continues to update and improve the CCW website. The ISU has coordinatedwith UNOG’s Conference Services on making available on-line the audio recordings of official CCW meetings and conferences and provided feedback to UNOG on the utility of this system.
VI.Support for reporting on CCW Compliance, Amended Protocol II and Protocol V
12. The ISU continued to update the officeholders and High Contracting Parties on the status of the reporting rates, to post all national annual reports on the website and to respond to all inquiries on national reporting. A total of 161 annual national reports on CCW compliance, Amended Protocol II and Protocol V have been uploaded on the website for 2016.
VII.Financial matters
13.Last year the High Contracting Parties requested the ISU “to continue to report annually on its activities, including on its estimated costs and actual costs.” [7]The tables containing the breakdown of the estimated costs compared to the final expenditures of all the meetings held last year are contained in the annex to this report.
14.An issue of significant importance in 2016 is the timely payment by States of their financial obligations under the framework Convention, Amended Protocol II and Protocol V to which they are High Contracting Parties, or meetings and conferences in which they participate as States not parties(observers). This has ended up being a major area of work for the ISU. The existing United Nations Financial Rules and Regulations have always required that funds are received in advance of incurring expenditures such as the organising of meetings and conferences under the CCW and the salary costs for the two ISU staff members.Recent financial accountability initiatives including the introduction of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the introduction of the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Umoja, are bringing greater transparency as well as stricter enforcement of these rules and regulations.These initiatives will no longer allow the Secretariat to convene a meeting or renew contracts of staff members, unless the necessary cash has been received in advance and previous arrears are paid in full.
15.UNODA, the Financial Resources Management Service (FRMS) of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and the ISU are working together to address the current financial situation. Letters were dispatched to States reminding them of their outstanding dues, comprising their 2016 assessed contributions and past unpaid arrears. The ISU directly contacted States, updated the website on the status of contributions and facilitated the sending of messages on behalf of the President-designate on the financial crisis concerning the Review Conference.[8] In addition, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Kim Won-Soo, has brought this matter to the attention of the UN Member States in his statement at the UNGA’s First Committee and sent letters to all those States with outstanding dues.
16. Even more importantly, the High Contracting Parties urgently need to seek a long-term solutionfor more effective means to ensure efficient implementation support, conference servicing and stability of the ISU, includinga practical mechanism for the expeditious settlement of invoices in order to prevent the risk that CCW meetings in the future may be postponed or cancelled due to insufficient funds.
Annex
Costs estimates and final expenditures of CCW meetings in 2015
Group of Experts on Amended Protocol II (Geneva, 9 – 10 April 2015)
Cost estimate[9]USD / Final Expenditures
USD
Conference-servicing items
Interpretation and meeting servicing / 29,300.00 / 27,770.00
Support Services requirements / 1,700.00 / 1,575.00
Other requirements / 8,500.00 / 3,806.04
Sub-total conference-servicing requirements / 39,500.00 / 33,151.04
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Grand total / 39,500.00 / 33,151.04
Meeting of Experts on Protocol V (Geneva, 7 – 8 April 2015)
Cost estimate[10]USD / Final Expenditures
USD
Conference-servicing items
Interpretation and meeting servicing / 29,300.00 / 28,755.00
Support Services requirements / 1,700.00 / 1,575.00
Other requirements / 8,500.00 / 3,806.04
Sub-total conference-servicing requirements / 39,500.00 / 34,136.04
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Grand total / 39,500.00 / 34,136.04
Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (Geneva, 13 – 17 April 2015)
Cost estimate[11]USD / Final Expenditures
USD
Conference-servicing items
Interpretation and meeting servicing / 102,900.00 / 97,119.00
Translation of documentation / 29,200.00 / 9,461.00
Support Services requirements / 4,200.00 / 3,938.00
Other requirements / 16,100.00 / 17,012.62
Sub-total conference-servicing requirements / 152,400.00 / 127,530.62
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Grand total / 152,400.00 / 127,530.62
Ninth Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Protocol V (Geneva, 9 – 10 November 2015)
Cost estimate[12]USD / Final Expenditures
USD
Conference-servicing items
Interpretation and meeting servicing / 29,300.00 / 26,457.00
Translation of documentation / 112,700.00 / 129,264.99
Support Services requirements / 2,400.00 / 2,303.00
Other requirements / 28,100.00 / 19,058.28
Sub-total conference-servicing requirements / 172,500.00 / 177,083.27
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Non-conference servicing requirements
One P-3 staff for six months / 99,900.00 / 85,758.21
Equipment and Supplies / 2,000.00 / -
Sub-total non-conference servicing requirements / 101,900.00 / 85,758.21
Programme support costs @ 13% of non-conference servicing requirements / 13,200.00 / 11,148.57
Sub-total non-conference servicing requirements / 115,100.00 / 96,906.78
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Grand total / 287,600.00 / 273,990.05
Seventeenth Annual Conference of the High Contracting Parties to Amended Protocol II (Geneva, 11 November 2015)
Cost estimate[13]USD / Final Expenditures
USD
Conference-servicing items
Interpretation and meeting servicing / 14,600.00 / 13,927.00
Translation of documentation / 64,000.00 / 60,602.00
Support Services requirements / 1,200.00 / 1,152.00
Other requirements / 21,100.00 / 12,244.21
Sub-total conference-servicing requirements / 100,900.00 / 87,926.20
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Non-conference servicing requirements
One P-3 staff for six months / 99,900.00 / 83,760.55
Equipment and Supplies / 2,000.00 / 217.50
Sub-total non-conference servicing requirements / 101,900.00 / 83,978.05
Programme support costs @ 13% of non-conference-servicing requirements / 13,200.00 / 10,917.15
Sub-total non-conference servicing requirements / 115,100.00 / 94,895.20
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Grand total / 216,000.00 / 182,821.40
2015 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) (Geneva, 12 – 13 November 2015)
Cost estimates[14]USD / Final Expenditures
USD
Conference-servicing items
Interpretation and meeting servicing / 29,300.00 / 26,457.00
Translation of documentation / 139,800.00 / 122,035.53
Support Services requirements / 2,400.00 / 2,303.00
Other requirements / 38,700.00 / 28,519.19
Sub-total conference-servicing requirements / 210,200.00 / 179,314.72
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Non-conference servicing requirements
One P-4 staff for 12 months / 239,700.00 / 216,424.74
Travel / 10,000.00 / 4,605.25
Equipment and Supplies / 2,000.00 / -
Sub-total non-conference servicing requirements / 251,700.00 / 221,029.99
Programme support costs @ 13% of non-conference-servicing requirements / 32,700.00 / 28,733.90
Sub-total non-conference servicing requirements / 284,400.00 / 249,763.89
(inclusive of 13% programme support costs)
Exchange rate gain/loss / (7.25)
Grand total / 494,600.00 / 429,071.36
1
[1] See CCW/MSP/2012/8, CCW/MSP/2013/5, CCW/MSP/2014/7, and CCW/MSP/2015/6.
[2] Final report, CCW/MSP/2015/9, paragraph 33.
[3] Final report, CCW/MSP/2009/5, paragraphs 34 to 37.
[4] “Combatting Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Arab Region: Developments, Challenges and Best Practices”, organized by the League of Arab States, Cairo, 29-30 May 2016.
[5] Geneva, 13-16 May 2014; 13-17 April 2015; and 11-15 April 2016.
[6] The provisional agendas, programmes of work, etc.
[7] Final report, CCW/MSP/2015/9, paragraph 33.
[8]The ISU organised two informal briefings chaired by the President-designate to discuss the financial challenges facing the Review Conference on 8 and 14 November 2016.
[9]CCW/AP.II/CONF.16/2
[10]CCW/P.V/CONF/2014/7
[11]CCW/MSP/2014/5
[12]CCW/P.V/CONF/2014/6
[13]CCW/AP.II/CONF.16/3
[14]CCW/MSP/2014/4.