Tunisia 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.
Tunisia attended the first international follow-up conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway in April 2024
Statements and positions
During the November 2011 Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians, Tunisia said that the indiscriminate use of EWIPA must be banned.1 Tunisia has also aligned with other states to deliver statements on explosive weapons in populated areas. At the UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in May 2021, the A3+1 (of which Tunisia is a member, alongside Kenya, Niger, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), condemned the use of EWIPA, highlighting the grave impacts for civilians2 They also specifically expressed alarm at the bombings in Gaza and hostilities in the other occupied Palestinian territories, and called for full implementation of the ceasefire and provision of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.
Tunisia has acknowledged the need to protect civilians from the humanitarian consequences from explosive weapons in populated areas as a member of the Arab Group and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. At the Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 2024, a working paper submitted by the Arab Group drew attention to the Political Declaration, and the importance of strengthening civilian protection from the humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons in populated areas.3
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.”4