A roundtable meeting, organised by Article 36, is being convened with state representatives from southern Africa and other key stakeholders including civil society and international organisations (UN and ICRC) on strengthening the protection of civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The roundtable will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 27-28 February 2025. It aims to build support for the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas as a framework that can reduce harm to civilians.

This roundtable aims to:

• Enhance participants’ understanding of the humanitarian impact of explosive weapons in populated areas among government representatives in Southern African and awareness of the Political Declaration and the international policy agenda on this theme.
• Better facilitate understandings, perspectives and state policy positions on the EWIPA issue in the sub-region, by providing space to explore views on the Declaration, considerations for joining and implementing it, and impact of geopolitical dynamics. This insight will help tailor approaches and inform contributions towards international meetings where relevant.
• Foster collaboration between states, civil society organisations and international organisations working on this issue, in order to provide information and support that aides endorsement and national level implementation of the Declaration.
• Highlight successful initiatives and policies that have been implemented in the region and globally to address challenges posed by EWIPA, or to mitigate the effects of weapons and armed conflict under other related humanitarian and disarmament frameworks.

Read the background note in English, French and Portuguese.

The background note contains further information for participants to facilitate their preparation for the roundtable in the following ways:

1. Accessing research on the humanitarian impacts arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, see also www.explosiveweaponsmonitor.org.

2. Accessing information on the Political Declaration on EWIPA, available in different languages at www.ewipa.org. See also the INEW Implementation Framework.

3. Supporting internal discussions on state positions on the EWIPA issue and the Political Declaration. See state position profiles here: https://explosiveweaponsmonitor.org/state-positions