The Bahamas has acknowledged the harm caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) through a joint statement but is not involved in negotiations for a political declaration on the matter.

Statements

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC), of which the Bahamas is a member, drew attention to the harm of weapons such as cluster munitions and antipersonnel mines on civilian populations in a statement to the UN General Assembly First Commission in October 2018. The statement emphasised that the use of these weapons is in clear violation with international humanitarian law (IHL) and called on all states to take immediate measures to ameliorate the humanitarian harms which they cause.[1]

The Bahamas endorsed the Ireland-led joint statement during the 74th United Nations General Assembly First Committee in 2019.[2] The statement recognised the devastating humanitarian effects of the use of EWIPA and 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.[3]

[1] CELAC (2018). ‘UNGA73 First Committee Statement’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/10Oct_CELAC.pdf.

[2] 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/.

[3] 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.