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

Statements

During the November 2011 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Tunisia said that the indiscriminate use of EWIPA must be banned.[1]

As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Tunisia aligned with World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016, including the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”[2]

Tunisia participated in the Vienna Conference on the Protection of Civilians in Urban Warfare in October 2019, but did not issue any statement on the subject.[3]

It participated in the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in May 2021 as a member of the A3+1 (alongside Kenya, Niger, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), during which these states condemned the use of EWIPA, highlighting the grave impacts on civilians.[4] This group also drew attention to the continued threat of explosive remnants of war and highlighted challenges posed by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, which together with the use of EWIPA place millions of civilians at risk of injury, displacement, and death. They also specifically expressed alarm at the bombings in Gaza and hostilities in the other occupied territories and called for full implementation of the ceasefire and provision of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.

[1] UN Security Council (2011). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Meeting Transcript.’ https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.6650(Resumption1).

[2] Agenda for Humanity. ‘Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholder/233.html. 

[3] INEW (2019). ‘Vienna Conference Marks Turning Point as States Support Negotiation of an International Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons’. https://www.inew.org/vienna-conference-marks-turning-point-as-states-support-negotiation-of-an-international-political-declaration-on-explosive-weapons/. 

[4] Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2021). ‘Protecting Civilians by Preventing Conflict’. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/15343-protecting-civilians-by-preventing-conflict.