Bangladesh has not yet endorsed the Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It did not actively participate in the negotiations towards a Political Declaration but attended the 2019 Vienna Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare where it emphasised that a Political Declaration on explosive weapons should comprise practical measures and procedures.1
Statements and positions
Bangladesh has on several occasions spoken on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums. During the February 2013 Security Council Debate on Children and Armed Conflict and the May 2017 UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Bangladesh delivered statements condemning the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, particularly focusing on the devastating harm it causes to women and children.2 During the General Debate of the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2018, Bangladesh called for the adoption of a Political Declaration to address the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and its humanitarian consequences.3
Alongside its individual statements, Bangladesh has repeatedly aligned with other states to deliver statements on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. At the January 2022 UN Security Council open debate on War in Cities, the Group of Friends of the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (of which Bangladesh is a member) called on states to enhance the protection of civilians, including from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and took note of the ongoing consultations to develop a Political Declaration on this subject.4 The Group made similar remarks at the 2022 UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians5, and noted the adoption of the Political Declaration at the 2023 open debate.6
As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Bangladesh 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.”7
In October 2018, Bangladesh was one of 50 states to endorse a joint statement on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee, calling attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impacts of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm8, and the following year endorsed a similar statement to First Committee that encouraged states to participate in the creation of an international Political Declaration.9