| <ICELAND | ITALY> |
Key developments since May 2001: Ireland provided €2,243,204 (US$2,014,397) in mine action funding in 2001, a significant increase from 2000.
Ireland signed and ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Implementation was achieved by the Explosives (Landmine) Order of 12 June 1996. Because the Order does not apply to the Irish Defence Forces, an amendment was made to the Defence Forces Tactical Doctrine in 1996 prohibiting the use of antipersonnel landmines. However, there are no legally-based punitive measures if a violation of the treaty occurs. Government authorities are reviewing the legislation.[1]
Ireland attended the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001 in Managua, Nicaragua, and meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees in January and May 2002.
The annual Article 7 transparency report was submitted on 2 May 2002 for calendar year 2001. This included the voluntary Form J, in which Ireland reports mine action funding. Previous Article 7 Reports were submitted on 16 August 1999, 14 April 2000, and 18 June 2001.[2]
On 29 November 2001, Ireland cosponsored and voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Ireland is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and submitted its annual report under Article 13 on 6 December 2001. It attended the Third Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II and the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001.
Ireland has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and is not mine-affected.[3] In June 2001, Ireland recorded retaining 127 EXPAL antipersonnel mines of Spanish manufacture for training purposes as permitted by Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[4] The December 2001 Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report states that Ireland “currently possesses” 126 mines for permitted purposes.[5] The May 2002 Article 7 Report records 125 mines retained.[6]
Ireland reports that it has made substantial contributions to demining and victim assistance in some of the most severely affected areas, and gives details in an annex to its Article 13 report. As regards funding policy, Ireland assesses mine action programs to be supported through Emergency and Rehabilitation Assistance funds according to “their relevance to the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance in terms of disaster relief and recovery in the field. This connectedness is an essential criterion for mine action funding from these funds.... Since 1994, Ireland has spent over £7 million [US$7.9 million][7] on a wide variety of demining and rehabilitation projects.”[8]
Mine action is also funded by Ireland Aid, the development cooperation division of the Department for Foreign Affairs. It is described as committed to providing mine action support as relevant to its respective humanitarian interventions, taking into account whether such support is under threat from resumed conflict or use of mines, and whether countries are members of Mine Ban Treaty.[9]
Total Irish mine action funding in 2001 was €2,243,204 (US$2,014,397), according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.[10] The Article 7 Report for 2001 gives funding data in Irish pounds, totaling Ir£1,769,710 ($1,990,902) divided between programs supported by Emergency and Rehabilitation Assistance funds totaling Ir£1,133,030 ($1,274,645) and “demining assistance” totaling Ir£636,680 ($716,257). In 2000, Ireland donated Ir£1,252,105 to mine action, and in 1999 donated Ir£1,566,000.[11]
Funding in Afghanistan was for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) program of orthotic-prosthetic centers. In Angola, funding of the HALO Trust was for an emergency clearance of 80,000 square meters of land for internally displaced persons. Funding of the UNICEF mine awareness program was aimed at 500,000 internally displaced persons and 100,000 children in 11 provinces of Angola. In Cambodia, HALO was funded for continuation of a long-term program of mine clearance and HI for victim assistance to mine survivors and other disabled people.[13]
Funding of some of the programs continued in 2002, with addition of a donation of €50,000 (US$44,900) to the Implementation Support Unit of the Mine Ban Treaty at the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining. Funding decisions for 2002 by the end of April totaled €1,097,000 ($985,106).[14]
It is planned that Ireland’s development aid funding will continue to rise until 2007, reaching 0.7 percent of GDP, which will include possibilities for increased mine action funding.[15]
| <ICELAND | ITALY> |
[1] Interview with Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2002.
[2] Article 7 Reports, submitted on 16 August 1999 for the period 3 December 1997-16 August 1999; submitted on 14 April 2000 for the period 16 August 1999-14 April 2000; submitted on 18 June 2001 for the period 14 April 2000-27 April 2001; and submitted on 2 May 2002 for calendar year 2001.
[3] Article 7 Reports, 16 August 1999 and 14 April 2000. Regarding non-use of mines in the Irish conflict, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 630, and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 666.
[4] Article 7 Report, Form D, 18 June 2001.
[5] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form C, 6 December 2001.
[6] Article 7 Report, Form D, 2 May 2002. If the two mines were expended for training purposes, Ireland did not explicitly report that fact, and it did not report any mines having been transferred for training or destruction.
[7] Currency conversions from Irish Pounds to US Dollars in this section done by Landmine Monitor using inter-bank rates, 31 December 2001.
[8] Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2002; Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Annex I, 6 December 2001.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Email and fax from Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, 22 April 2002; interview with Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 16 May 2002. Exchange rate at 29 April 2002: €1 = $0.898, used throughout.
[11] Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2002; Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Annex I, 6 December 2001. These reports give funding data for 2000 that differs from that in the Article 13 Report of 13 December 2000, on which the previous Landmine Monitor report for Ireland was based.
[12] Email and fax from Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, 22 April 2002; interview with Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 16 May 2002.
[13] Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2002; and Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Annex I, 6 December 2001.
[14] Email and fax from Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, 22 April, and interview with Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 16 May 2002.
[15] Interview with Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 16 May 2002.
