El Salvador was not directly involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It was, however, among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022.
In the first informal consultations on the Declaration in November 2019, El Salvador delivered a joint statement with seven other Latin American and Caribbean states. In this statement, states delineated key elements of a Political Declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas including: acknowledgement of the likely humanitarian consequences of the use of explosive weapons of wide area effects in populated areas; a commitment to avoid use of such weapons in populated areas and to develop military operational policies and procedures in this regard and identify, develop and exchange best practices; promote greater compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law; commit states to enable secure and sustainable humanitarian access; recognise the rights of victims and affected communities; encourage collection of disaggregated data; strengthen cooperation and partnerships with international organisations and civil society organisations to draw upon their relevant expertise and support. 1
Statements and positions
At the 2024 UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, El Salvador drew attention to the ‘particularly severe’ impact on civilian populations from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It encouraged all states that had yet to endorse the Political Declaration to do so and called for endorsing states to make efforts to implement the Declaration fully. 2
El Salvador has several times aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums. With 22 other Latin American and Caribbean states, El Salvador participated in the Santiago Regional Meeting on Protecting Civilians from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in 2018, resulting in the Santiago Communiqué in which the participating states agreed to take further action on the issue. 3 In 2018 and 2019, El Salvador joined some 50 and 71 states respectively to endorse joint statements 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 impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm. 4