1. During the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction in Managua from 18 to 21 September 2001, the States parties to the Mine Ban Convention endorsed the Paper on the Implementation Support for the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, as contained in Annex I to this Agreement. States parties warmly welcomed the establishment within the GICHD, of an Implementation Support Unit to further enhance the operation and the implementation of the Convention. States parties expressed their appreciation to the GICHD for its cooperation in the establishment of this unit, encouraged States in a position to do so to make voluntary contributions in support of the unit and mandated the President of the Third Meeting, in consultation with the Coordinating Committee, to
finalize an agreement with the GICHD on the functioning of the unit. (Final Report APLC/MSP.3/2001/L.7)
2. The Council of Foundation of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining accepted this mandate at its seventh meeting on 28 September 2001 and tasked the Director to conclude an agreement with the President of the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Convention.
3. The services GICHD provides to support the Mine Ban Convention include:
3.1 Preparing and supporting meetings of the Standing Committees and the Coordinating Committee, including writing summaries and facilitating follow-up activity;
3.2 Providing independent professional advice and assistance to the Coordinating Committee;
3.3 Establishing a documentation and resource database facility (on the Ottawa Process, Oslo Diplomatic Conference, Meetings of States Parties, SCEs, SCs and the CC).
4. The Director of the GICHD shall take all appropriate measures consistent with this Agreement to establish an Implementation Support Unit to carry out the duties related to the Mine Ban Convention according to Part B of Annex I[c] to this Agreement and shall ensure that these duties are carried out. The Implementation Support Unit should remain small in number of staff.
5. Where necessary, priorities shall be defined by the Coordinating Committee and the Director, in consultations with the States parties. Such priorities may be reviewed on a regular basis.
6. The Implementation Support Unit will in the performance of its substantive duties on implementation issues, receive direction from and support the work of the Coordinating Committee, ensuring ongoing input from States parties into the work of the ISU. The Director of the GICHD, or a representative, shall participate as an observer at meetings of the Coordinating Committee to ensure effective and close communications and coordination.
7. The personnel working in the Implementation Support Unit shall have the same status as other regular GICHD staff. Normal legal provisions as well as existing staff regulations and practices in GICHD apply to the personnel of the ISU.
8. The Director shall be responsible for the recruiting of staff members serving with the ISU. He shall consult the President of the Meeting of States Parties as well as the members of the Coordinating Committee. To maintain the independence of the ISU its staffing will not include personnel seconded by Governments.
9. The Director of the GICHD shall submit a report on the functioning of the implementation support to the States parties. This report is to be submitted at their annual meeting in written form. The report shall cover the period between two meetings of States parties.
10. The Director may be invited by the President or the Coordinating Committee to make an oral report on the functioning of the implementation support at the intersessional meetings or on other occasions.
11. A Fund for voluntary contributions shall be established to finance the ongoing activities of the ISU. The Fund shall be administered in Swiss Francs. The relevant details are provided in Annex II[d] of this agreement.
12. The annual budget for the ISU will be established by the Coordinating Committee and the Director of the GICHD.
13. The budget document:
14. The States parties endeavour to assure the necessary financial resources. GICHD will assist in this effort.
15. An annual financial report shall be submitted to the President/Coordinating Committee and to all donors. To assure transparency, the financial report shall be made available, upon request, to any Government, interested institution and/or person.
16. The Fund shall be included in the GICHD accounting system and be audited by an independent auditing company on an annual basis. The auditing report shall be forwarded to the President, the Coordinating Committee and to donors.
17. Wherever a clarification on the application of this Agreement is required, it should be discussed in a spirit of cooperation between the Coordinating Committee and the Director of GICHD or be transferred for consideration to the States parties.
18. This Agreement may be changed or amended at any time on mutual agreement.
19. The Agreement shall enter into force upon signature by both parties. It will remain effective for at least one year. Withdrawal from this Agreement can be effected after this initial period by six months’ written notice from either party.
20. Signed in the English and Spanish languages, on four copies, each text being equally authentic. In case of any inconsistency, the English version will take precedence.
Notes
[c] Annex 1 to the signed original agreement consisted of the Third Meeting of the States Parties President’s Paper on the Establishment of an Implementation Support Unit, document APLC/MSP.3/2001/1.[d] Annex II to the signed original agreement consisted of the bank account details of the Fund.
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