Cities are not targets: Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome signing of new international agreement
Posted: 23rd November 2022
Cities are not targets: Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome signing of new international agreement
With daily news coverage of the terrible devastation wrought to civilian areas by modern explosive weapons in the war in Ukraine, the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities welcome the signing a new political statement on protecting civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) today (18 November) in Dublin Castle.
Nine out of every ten casualties in modern wars are civilians, rather than military personnel. With large parts of urban Ukraine decimated by the tools of modern warfare, politicians across Europe and beyond have become increasingly anxious to prohibit the future use of high explosive weapons in urban areas. Signatories are expected to come from an estimated seventy countries, including most Western European nations and, for the first time, the United States.
On Friday 17 June 2022 in Geneva, Ireland concluded consultations on the final text of the ‘Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’.
This ended almost three years of consultations, led by Irish Ambassador Michael Gaffey, with the United Nations, member states, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and civil-society organizations, including the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW). The INEW has been nominated for the Peace Prize that will be awarded by the Belgian City of Ypres in 2023.
Councillor David Blackburn, Chair of the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities, said of the signing today:
“The Nuclear Free Local Authorities, being in part comprised of Irish local authorities, thank the Irish Government for this much needed initiative. We have seen first in the former Yugoslavia and now in Ukraine the terrible carnage that modern warfare has brought to urban environments in Europe.
“The biggest tragedy is that most casualties are innocent civilians. Many victims are children, the disabled and elderly, who are less able to flee the fighting, and even after the guns fall silent civilians remain casualties, falling prey to unexploded munitions, landmines and booby traps.
“Modern weapons devastate residential areas making thousands homeless and destroy the infrastructure of cities, obliterating hospitals and schools, and denying survivors access to clean water, gas, power, communications and public transport.
“Although as Nuclear Free Local Authorities, we are first-and-foremost vehemently opposed to the continued possession, and the threat of use, of nuclear weapons, we are also conscious that there is an urgent need to protect cities and their residents from the many powerful conventional explosives that modern armies possess. We wish this initiative every success and offer it our full support”.
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More information about the conference, the process of consultation, and the full text of the final declaration can be found via the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs website
This media release can also be found on the NFLA website at https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/cities-are-not-targets-nuclear-free-local-authorities-welcome-signing-of-new-international-agreement/
For more information please contact: Richard Outram, Secretary, NFLA email [email protected] / mobile +44 (0)7583 097793