Second Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention against Anti-Personnel Landmines

September 11, 2000

1. The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention against Anti-Personnel Landmines will be held from 11 (Mon) to 15 (Fri) September in Geneva. This is a regular meeting to review the operation of the Treaty in accordance with the provision of the Ottawa Convention, which came into effect on 1 March 1999. The first meeting was held in May last year in Maputo, Mozambique.

2. Participants in the meeting will include representatives from more than 100 countries centering on the states parties, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). From Japan, Mr. Seiichiro Noboru, Ambassador of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, will make a general speech on 12 September as the representative of the Government of Japan.

3. At the meeting, there will be general speeches by representatives, and studies including (1) victim assistance, (2) mine clearance, (3) development of technologies for mine action, and (4) general status and operation of the Convention.

4. In order to promote a "Zero Victims Program", which intends to realize universal and effective ban of anti-personnel landmines and to strengthen assistance for both mine clearance activities and victims of landmines, Japan has been working on the realization of "zero victims" by, for example, contributing approximately 10 billion yen over about five years starting from 1998. The Government of Japan hopes that active discussions among the representatives of the governments and NGOs will bring about fruitful results, and will participate in these discussions proactively.

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