Loading

Italy

HAS ENDORSED THE POLITICAL DECLARATION

Italy was actively involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and was among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022. Italy regularly delivered statements throughout the consultations towards a Political Declaration, 1 as well as raising concerns around explosive weapons in populated areas and expressing support for a Political Declaration in other multilateral forums. Early in the consultation process Italy highlighted the importance of developing and sharing military policies and good practices – in military doctrines, tactical instructions, rules of engagement, the testing and development of new weapons, education, and other measures—to enhance protection of civilians and compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL). 2 Italy also emphasised that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) provides a sufficient framework with which to address the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, but that the challenge lies in implementing IHL in the dynamics of current conflicts, particularly as this relates to the principles of distinction, necessity, proportionality, and precaution. 3  

These were repeated themes throughout Italy’s statements to the negotiations during which Italy also called for the inclusion of the destruction of “cultural heritage” within the declaration as one of the harms caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It also welcomed the inclusion of gender dimensions of harm, supported the strengthening of the victim assistance provision, and called for an open, transparent, and inclusive follow-up process for the Political Declaration. 4 During the signing ceremony of the declaration in Dublin in November 2022, Italy said that the implementation of the declaration should reflect a wider notion of protection of civilians, one that is not limited to direct and immediate effects from the use of explosive weapons, but that takes into consideration the damages in medium to long term that compromises life, education and development. 5  

Statements and positions

Italy attended the first international implementation conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway in April 2024, and the second implementation conference in San Jose, Costa Rica in November 2025. In San Jose, Italy underlined the continued humanitarian urgency of addressing use of explosive weapons in populated areas, expressed its full support for the political declaration, and called for greater endorsement and adherence from non-signatory states. It also commended the inclusive approach taken to implementation, which invites contributions from civil society, and emphasised the importance of international cooperation. 6 

In Oslo, Italy expressed concern for ongoing use of explosive weapons in Gaza and Ukraine, underlined the importance of data collection on direct and indirect effects, and the need for special attention to be given to vulnerable groups, women, children and journalists. Italy emphasised the need to destroy and remove explosive remnants of war and assist victims, stating that it provides gender-sensitive aid and risk education. Italy encouraged all non-endorsing states to adhere to the Political Declaration. 7

Italy has frequently spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums. At the 2024 UN Security Council open debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, Italy stated that the “impact of conflicts on civilians is particularly acute when fighting occurs in populated areas and involves the use of explosive weapons. Attacks on critical infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and homes have heightened the risks for civilians.”8 Italy condemned the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in a statement at the 2018 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), expressing concern at the grave humanitarian impacts of explosive weapons in populated areas and voicing support for further discussions on the issue to facilitate the sharing of military practices and measures to reduce the humanitarian impacts of explosive weapons in populated areas. 9 At the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2022, Italy welcomed the conclusion of the negotiations on the Political Declaration, 10 in 2023 welcomed its adoption, 11 and in 2024 highlighted the importance of the Declaration and international follow-up meetings. 12

Alongside its individual statements, Italy has repeatedly aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas. As a member of the European Union (EU), Italy has signed onto numerous joint statements condemning the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the harms it causes to civilians and civilian objects, as well as calling for greater IHL compliance and welcoming the Political Declaration. This includes at several UN Security Council open debates on the protection of civilians in armed conflict 13, including in 2024 when it expressed deep concern about the use and humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons in populated areas ‘which has significant civilian impact and should thus be restricted and avoided’14 as well as at the 2022 UN Security Council open debate on war in cities where the EU expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including near hospitals, schools, and universities 15 and at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee. 16
Italy also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in May 2016. This included 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.” 17 

As a member of the Group of Friends on Protection of Civilians, Italy has supported statements at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians stressing the importance of respecting IHL and the need to enhance the protection of civilians from the effects of explosive weapons in populated areas. 18 At the same meeting in 2024, the Group highlighted the harm caused by explosive weapons in populated areas across ongoing conflicts and stressed that “the effective protection of civilians and civilian objects must be made a strategic priority in the planning and conduct of military operations.” 19 To that end, the Political Declaration was identified as providing “practical tools that ensure that protection is real and effective” a sentiment the Group echoed at the 2025 debate where it flagged the Political Declaration as a tool that “plays a critical role in the protection of civilians” and encouraged states to consider endorsing. 20 

The Group of Friends of Action on Conflict and Hunger, of which Italy is also a member, in 2023 also strongly welcomed the Political Declaration, called on other states to join it, and said that the Oslo Conference will provide a critical opportunity to make progress in implementing the Declaration. 21 In 2025, the Group said that “overly permissive interpretations of the rules of international humanitarian law are undermining their key objective, that is, the protection of civilians and civilian objects” and, referencing Gaza, decried the “immense civilian harm has been caused by Israel’s indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas and its obstruction of life-saving aid”. In closing, it urged states to “work for the universal endorsement and implementation of the Political Declaration”. 22

In 2018 and 2019, Italy 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. 23  

Implementation of the Political Declaration

In February 2024, INEW and EWM conducted a survey into endorser states' national efforts to disseminate and implement the Political Declaration; and in May 2025 EWM conducted a second survey. 24 Responding to the 2025 survey, Italy reported that it has designated a focal point for overseeing efforts to implement the Declaration, situated in the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Unit, Directorate General for Political Affairs and Security, in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Italy reported that the Declaration has also been circulated within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to ensure a coordinated approach with other Units. 25

Italy has also integrated the Declaration into the Armed Forces’ directives and reported its Manual on International Humanitarian Law for the Armed Forces and the Directive on the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict as the main references governing the use of explosive weapons. 26 Doctrinal reviews are underway to align military practice with evolving obligations including the Political Declaration, and Italy reported that it already applies restrictive caveats when Armed Forces are operating in populated areas to avoid the use of wide-area effect explosive weapons. It requires strict target validation and proportionality assessments, including collateral-damage estimation and consideration of indirect effects during operational planning. 27 

On data collection, Italy reported that this is performed through after-action reviews, civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) reporting, and debriefings from field operations. In multinational missions, Italian contingents contribute to joint assessment mechanisms and incident reporting systems, including those led by international organizations (e.g., NATO, UN). Nationally, such information is shared with competent authorities for legal, humanitarian, and policy evaluation purposes, subject to operational security constraints. 28

  1. Reaching Critical Will. ‘Statements – Political Declaration Process’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/explosive weapons in populated areas/political-declaration/statements.

  1. Reaching Critical Will (2019). ‘Towards a Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas: States Need to Ensure that Expressed Commitments Translate into Real Impacts on the Ground’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14451-towards-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas-states-need-to-ensure-that-expressed-commitments-translate-into-real-impacts-on-the-ground.

  1. Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations (2019). ‘Written Submission’. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Italy-Written-Submission-18-November-2019.pdf.

  1. Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will (2021). ‘Report on the March 2021 Consultations on a Political Declaration on the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/15213-report-on-the-march-2021-consultations-on-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.

  1. Irish Foreign Ministry (2022). ‘Watch Back -Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas – Dublin Conference – Morning Session’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2VpYQzoKyo.

  2. Explosive Weapons Monitor: notes from the second international conference on implementation of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in San Jose, Costa Rica (Day 1). November 2025.

  3. Reaching Critical Will notes at the first international follow-up conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway, April 2024.

  4. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9632 (Resumption 1). P.24. 21 May 2024. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/pro/n24/140/54/pdf/n2414054.pdf. 

  5. Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations (2018). ‘Statement to the 2018 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’.  https://italiarappginevra.esteri.it/rappginevra/resource/doc/2018/12/2018_statement_ita_ccw_hcp_emerging_issues.pdf.

  6. Young, K. (2022). ‘First Committee Monitor, Vol.20, No.4’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/FCM22/FCM-2022-No4.pdf.

  7. Italy (2023.) ‘First Committee of the 78th UN General Assembly Cluster IV - Conventional Weapons’. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/23Oct_Italy.pdf.

  8. Molyneux, C. (2024) ‘First Committee Monitor, Vol. 22, No.5’ https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/FCM24/FCM-2024-No5.pdf.

  9. ‘EU Statement - UN Security Council: Protection of Civilians’, 21 May 2024. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-un-security-council-protection-civilians_en?s=63; ‘EU Statement during the May 2011 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 10 May 2011. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/eu_poc_11may2011_0.pdf; ‘EU Statement during the June 2012 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 25 June 2012.  http://www.peacewomen.org/security-council/security-council-open-debate-protection-civilians-armed-conflict-june-2012/; ‘EU Statement during the August 2013 UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 19 August 2013. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/european_union_poc_august_2013_debate_0.pdf.

  10. ‘EU Statement - UN Security Council: Protection of Civilians’, 21 May 2024. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-un-security-council-protection-civilians_en?s=63.

  11. Acheson, R. 2022. ‘UN Security Council Debates War in Cities and the Protection of Civilians.’ Reaching Critical Will, 28 January 2022. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.

  12. ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 80th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 23 October 2025. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com25/statements/23Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 78th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 23 October 2023. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/23Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 77th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 20 October 2022. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 76th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 4 October 2021.
    https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/4Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 75th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 9 October 2020.
    https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/9Oct_EU.pdf.

  13. Agenda for Humanity Archives. ‘Italy’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholder/207.html.

  14. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9042. 25 May 2022. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9042. 

  15. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9632 (Resumption 1). 21 May 2024.  https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/pro/n24/140/54/pdf/n2414054.pdf.

  16. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9921 (Resumption 1) 22 May 2025. https://docs.un.org/en/S/PV.9921%20(Resumption%201).

  17. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9327. 23 May 2023. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9327(Resumption1).

  18. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9921 (Resumption 1) 22 May 2025. https://docs.un.org/en/S/PV.9921%20(Resumption%201).

  19. ‘UNGA73 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (explosive weapons in populated areas)’. Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. 25 October 2018. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/25Oct_explosive weapons in populated areas.pdf; ‘UNGA74 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. 24 October 2019. https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf; ‘Seventy-one States call for Action on Impact of Explosive Weapons in Joint Statement to UN General Assembly’. International Network on Explosive Weapons. October 2019. https://www.inew.org/seventy-one-states-call-for-action-on-impact-of-explosive-weapons-in-joint-statement-to-un-general-assembly/. 

  20. To view all responses to the state surveys, see the Explosive Weapons Monitor 2023, Chapter III on Universalisation and Implementation of the Political Declaration and EWMs Assessment of Implementation of the Declaration (2025).

  21. EWM. ‘An Assessment of Implementation of the Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas: Briefing Paper’. November 2025. https://explosiveweaponsmonitor.org/reports/8/an-assessment-of-implementation-of-the-political-declaration/.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Ibid.

  24. Ibid.

 

Other State Positions