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Belgium

HAS ENDORSED THE POLITICAL DECLARATION

Belgium 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. Belgium regularly delivered statements throughout the consultations towards a Political Declaration, 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, Belgium emphasised that there should be a focus on promoting International Humanitarian Law (IHL) as a sufficient existing framework, a repeated theme throughout its interventions where it called for a focus on “indiscriminate use” of explosive weapons, and a balance between military necessity and humanitarian concerns. 1 In its November 2019 statement to the first consultations, Belgium called for the consideration of non-state actors within the Political Declaration and suggested that good management of munitions and prevention of arms diversion could be an important inclusion in this regard. 2 Belgium also specified that the Declaration should recognise the humanitarian impacts of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, especially those with wide area effects, including the indirect, long-term, and reverberating effects. 3 Belgium, along with others, also supported the use of qualifiers within the Political Declaration, indicating that instead of saying that explosive weapons in populated areas use “is having” devastating impacts, the Declaration should say that it “can have” these impacts or that these impacts “can arise” from explosive weapons in populated areas use. 4 At subsequent consultations, Belgium reaffirmed many of these positions. 5 Belgium suggested to use the wording “avoid and in any event minimise civilian harm when conducting an attack, including by restricting or refraining from the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas” in paragraph 3.3. 6 At the final round of consultations in June 2022, Belgium welcomed the inclusion of language regarding victim assistance and humanitarian access in the operational part of the Declaration. 7 

Statements and positions

At the first international follow-up conference on the implementation of the Declaration in April 2024, Belgium spoke during the session on military policy and practice. The focus of its statement was on its ‘rigorous application of international law’ and its ‘standard operational procedures’ for selecting targets, including collateral damage risk assessments and estimation. 8  

Belgium has frequently spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums, primarily to condemn the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, highlighting the harm it causes to civilians, particularly children, and call for avoiding this practice, as well as to emphasise the need for states to abide by IHL. Belgium has delivered such statements during the UN Security Council open debate on children and armed conflict 9 and during the UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians – at the 2025 open debate on the protection of civilians, Belgium said that “the deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the attacks on humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers must stop”. 10 With the final text of the Declaration agreed, Belgium also took the opportunity to welcome the successful completion of the Political Declaration at subsequent meetings of the UN Security Council and at the UN General Assembly First Committee. 11

Alongside its individual statements, Belgium has repeatedly aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas. As a member of the European Union (EU), Bulgaria 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 12, 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’13 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 14 and at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee. 15

Belgium is also a member of the Group of Friends on the Protection of Civilians. At the 2024 UN Security Council debate on civilian protection, 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.” 16 To that end, the Political Declaration was identified as providing “practical tools that ensure that protection is real and effective”, a sentiment it echoed at the 2025 debate where the Group flagged the Political Declaration as a tool that “plays a critical role in the protection of civilians” and encouraged states to consider endorsing. 17 Belgium also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ as an EU member state 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.” 18 

Belgium also endorsed the Ireland-led joint statement during the 74th United Nations General Assembly First Committee in 2019. The statement encouraged states to participate in international efforts to address the impacts of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on civilians, including by working towards the creation of an international Political Declaration. 19 As a member of the Group of Friends on Protection of Civilians, Belgium has supported statements at the UN Security Council stressing the importance of respecting IHL and the need to enhance the protection of civilians. 20 

Implementation of the Political Declaration

Belgium 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 where it emphasised its support for the declaration.

In February 2024, INEW and EWM conducted a state survey into endorser states' national efforts to disseminate and implement the Political Declaration; and in May 2025 EWM conducted a second survey. 21 In the 2025 survey, Belgium reported that it had designated a focal point for overseeing efforts to implement the Declaration, situated in the Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Division of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. Local points of contact in the armed forces have been nominated at the strategic-leadership, legal, and operational levels to encourage dissemination and implementation. Belgium’s Legal Department of Armed Forces also issued a circular outlining the main issues related to use of explosive weapons in populated areas and steps for implementation of the Declaration within the military. 22

Belgium also reported that, as part of the Belgian Defence participation in the International Contact Group on Civilian Harm Mitigation, a baseline assessment is under development to evaluate implementation of the protection of civilians at all levels of the armed forces and identify tools for improvement. The Belgian Air Force is in the process of formalising targeting procedures and doctrine with a clear emphasis on civilian protection and weapon precision, and within Belgian Defence a specific targeting related induction training for non-targeting professionals that includes weapons mitigation and civilian casualty awareness is currently under development. A protection-of-civilians module is also included in its annual mandatory training for all personnel (Joint Individual Common Core Skills) and developed a targeting-focused induction course for non-specialists, covering collateral damage estimation and civilian casualty awareness. 23

Belgium reported that it integrates EWIPA-related commitments within existing NATO-aligned doctrine and procedures and also participates in regular meetings of the International Contact Group on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response that offer “an opportunity to exchange among allies and defence partners on the implementation of the EWIPA declaration and get inspiration from best practices on further implementation steps.” Belgium also maintains long-standing support for mine action, humanitarian aid, and post-conflict recovery through bilateral partnerships and multilateral agencies. 24

  1. Acheson, R. 2020. Reaching Critical Will. ‘Impacts, Not Intentionality: The Imperative of Focusing on the Effects of Explosive Weapons in a Political Declaration’. 14 February 2020.  https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/14658-impacts-not-intentionality-the-imperative-of-focusing-on-the-effects-of-explosive-weapons-in-a-Political-Declaration.  

  1. ‘Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare – explosive weapons in populated areas– Consultations informelles– Intervention de la Belgique.’ Reaching Critical Will. 18 November 2019.  https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ewipa/Declaration/statements/18Nov_Belgium.pdf.  

  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.’ Reaching Critical Will. 2019.  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. Irish Foreign Ministry. ‘Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas – Political Declaration Consultations, Day 1 Afternoon’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPllKWRMlNg.   

  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 Department of Foreign Affairs. ‘Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas – Political Declaration Consultations, Day 1 Afternoon’.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPllKWRMlNg.

  1. ​​Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. ‘Watch Back: Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas: Consultations – Afternoon’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nO5frX2hnM. ​  

  1. First international follow-up conference to the adoption of the Political Declaration on EWIPA: Statement of Belgium (session 1 – military policies and practices). 23 April 2024. https://cms.ewipa.org/uploads/Belgium_Session_1_f3cfe4c9f3.pdf.  

  1. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.6790. 25 June 2012. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.6790(Resumption1); United Nations Security Council. S/PV.7466. 18 June 2015. Available from: https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7466; United Nations Security Council. S/PV.7753. 2 August 2016. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7753.  

  1. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.7109. 12 February 2014.https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7109. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.7711. 10 June 2016.  https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.7711; United Nations Security Council. S/PV.8534. 23 May 2019.  https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.8534; United Nations Security Council, S/PV.9632 (Resumption 1), 21 May 2024. P.18-19, https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/pro/n24/140/54/pdf/n2414054.pdf.  

  1. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9327. 23 May 2023. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9327(Resumption1); ‘BELGIUM: Statement at the Adoption of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. 18 November 2022. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/peaceandsecurity/ewipa/Belgium.pdf.   

  1. ‘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.

  1. ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 72nd Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 18 October 2017. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/18Oct_EU.pdf.  

  1. 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.  

  1. ‘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. 

  1. 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?token=gnNZ75yWJDSvjAuWNa&fe=true.  

  1. Ibid., and United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9921. 22 May 2025. https://docs.un.org/en/S/PV.9921. 

  1. Agenda for Humanity Archives. ‘Belgium’.  https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholders/commitments/127.html.   

  1. ‘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/.

  1. 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; Group of Friends (2022). ‘UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians’. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9042; United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9327. 23 May 2023. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9327(Resumption1).

  2. 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/; and Belgium’s response to INEW’s State Survey on the Implementation of the Political Declaration, April 2024. Available in the ‘Explosive Weapons Monitor 2023’. https://www.explosiveweaponsmonitor.org/2023.

  3. 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/.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid

Other State Positions