Moldova has acknowledged the harm caused by explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) and has committed to action on this issue.

Statements

Moldova issued a statement on EWIPA during the Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in December 2016, expressing concern regarding the indiscriminate use of EWIPA. It also expressed support for a political commitment to prevent the humanitarian harm from the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas.[1]

In October 2018, Moldova was one of 50 states to endorse the joint statement on the use of EWIPA at the UN General Assembly First Committee, calling attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of EWIPA and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm.[2]

Moldova also endorsed the Ireland-led joint statement during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee in 2019.[3] The statement encouraged states to participate in international efforts to address the impacts of the use of EWIPA on civilians, including by working towards the creation of an international political declaration on this issue.[4]

Political declaration

Despite having endorsed above statements and having attended the Vienna Conference on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare in October 2019, Moldova has not participated in any meetings for a consultation for a political declaration on the use of EWIPA. 

[1] Permanent Mission of Moldova to the United Nations (2016). ‘Statement at the Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ccw/2016/RevCon/statements/12Dec_Moldova.pdf. 

[2] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2018). ‘UNGA73 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA)’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/25Oct_EWIPA.pdf.

[3] INEW (2019). ‘Seventy-one States call for Action on Impact of Explosive Weapons in Joint Statement to UN General Assembly’. https://www.inew.org/seventy-one-states-call-for-action-on-impact-of-explosive-weapons-in-joint-statement-to-un-general-assembly/.

[4] Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations (2019). ‘UNGA74 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA)’. https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf.