Third Meeting of States Parties

The Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) took place in Oslo, Norway, from 11 to 14 September 2012 and gathered some 800 delegates from 60 States Parties, 30 signatory States, 31 observer States and 15 international organizations (see list below).The 3MSP was opened by Dr. Adnan Mansour, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of the Republic of Lebanon. During the first plenary meeting, Ambassador Steffen Kongstad, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, was elected by the Meeting as President of the 3MSP.

Major decisions of the 3MSP:

  • The Meeting took note of the working paper submitted by the President of the 2MSP on “Description of a possible Implementation Support Unit (ISU): Draft working paper” and recognized the efforts made to fulfil the mandate given to the President of the 2MSP. As no decision was made regarding the establishment of an ISU, a similar mandate was given to the President of the 3MSP;
  • UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) has been requested to continue providing the function of the interim ISU;
  • Appointment of Coordinators to guide the intersessional work programme as follows:
    • General status and operation of the Convention (Zambia and Costa Rica)
    • Universalization (Portugal and Ghana)
    • Victim assistance (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan)
    • Clearance and risk reduction (Lao PDR and Ireland)
    • Stockpile destruction and retention (Croatia and Spain)
    • Cooperation and assistance (Sweden and Mexico)
    • Reporting (Belgium)
    • National implementation measures (New Zealand)

Sessions & statements:

Day 1: Opening session
Day 1: Opening of the meeting
Day 1: General exchange of views
Day 2: Victim assistance
Day 2: Implementation Support Unit
Day 3: Stockpile destruction and retention
Day 3: Clearance and risk reduction
Day 3: Universalization
Day 3: Transparency measures
Day 3: National implementation measures
Day 3: Workplan 2013
Day 4: International cooperation and assistance
Day 4: Compliance
Day 4: Closing Session

Program and side-events:
A number of on-site side events sponsored by States Parties, UN entities, CMC and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were organized during the 3MSP. The programme can be found here.

A recording of the opening session can be found here.
Conference documents are available on the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs’ website.