France
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: State Party France was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. It enacted national implementation legislation on 20 July 2010. France has attended every meeting of the convention and condemned new use of cluster munitions. France voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2017. It has elaborated its views on important issues relating to its interpretation and implementation of the convention.
France is a former user, producer, and exporter of cluster munitions. France announced the completion of the destruction of its stockpile of 34,876 cluster munitions and 14.9 million submunitions on 30 June 2016, more than two years in advance of its deadline. France is retaining three cluster munitions and 190 submunitions for training and research purposes, which is a significant reduction from the amount that it initially planned to retain.
Policy
The French Republic signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 25 September 2009, and was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.
France’s implementing legislation for the convention is the Law on the Elimination of Cluster Munitions, enacted on 20 July 2010.[1] A Council of State decree issued on 28 June 2011 assigned responsibility for implementation of the law to various governmental departments and expanded the mandate of the French National Commission for the Elimination of Antipersonnel Mines (Commission nationale pour l’élimination des mines antipersonnel, CNEMA) to include monitoring the national law on the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2]
France submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 31 January 2011 and has provided annual updated reports since then, most recently in 2018.[3]
France participated in the Oslo Process that produced the convention and its policy evolved considerably to support a comprehensive ban.[4]
France has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, most recently the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in September 2017. It attended the convention’s First Review Conference in 2015 and intersessional meetings in 2011–2015.
France voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution adopted in December 2017 that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitionsto “join as soon as possible.”[5] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions on the convention in 2015 and 2016.
France often calls on states that are not yet party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions to join as soon as possible.[6] It undertakes various activities to promote universalization of the convention, including bilateral demarches and meetings, often coordinating its outreach efforts with Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) co-founder Handicap International (HI).[7]
France has repeatedly condemned cluster munition attacks in Syria since October 2012, when Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius first denounced use of the weapons.[8] In June 2016, France condemned the use of cluster munitions and challenged all nations that have not yet banned them to do so.[9]
France has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2017.[10] It voted in favor of a June 2015 UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution that expressed concern at evidence of cluster munition use in Darfur, Sudan.[11] France voted in favor of a May 2014 UNSC resolution expressing concern at the “indiscriminate” use of cluster munitions in South Sudan.[12]
France is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Interpretive issues
France has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to its implementation and interpretation of the convention. On the matter of joint operations with states not party and the prohibition on assistance, France’s national implementation legislation contains an explicit prohibition on assistance with the use of cluster munitions as well as assistance with the production, offer, acquisition, importation, exportation, trade, and “brokerage” of the weapons.[13] The law allows France to participate in military operations with states not party that might engage in activities prohibited by the convention but prohibits any French person acting in a joint military operation to use, develop, manufacture, otherwise acquire, stockpile, or transfer cluster munitions, or to use or request the use of cluster munitions where the choice of ammunition is under their exclusive control.[14]
In 2010, the Secretary of State for Defense and Veterans stated that France does not see a need for the convention’s positive obligations to be expressly mentioned in the law in order to be actively implemented.[15] France informed States Parties in 2011 that it notified parties to the NATO air operation in Libya of its obligations under the convention to not use cluster munitions or assist in their use.[16]
France’s national law does not explicitly prohibit the transit of cluster munitions and in 2011, France stated that transit across the territory, territorial waters, or airspace of a state “without transfer of ownership, is not prohibited.”[17] France has also stated that it will endeavor to prevent any state from transiting cluster munitions on its territory and committed to make its obligations and commitments known through diplomatic channels while urging other countries to respect them.[18]
On a related matter, France has yet to provide its view on the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions.
Investment
While the national law does not specifically prohibit investment in cluster munition production, France considers that knowingly financing, directly or indirectly, a prohibited activity under the convention is a case of assistance and is therefore also prohibited. In 2010, the Secretary of State for Defense and Veterans told the Senate that such financing would constitute assistance, encouragement, or inducement, and so would fall within the scope of the criminal offenses of the bill.[19]
Efforts to include an explicit prohibition on investment in the draft national implementing legislation were rejected by the government in 2010, which said that a specific ban on investments would jeopardize general industrial partnerships between French companies and foreign companies that may produce cluster munitions and threaten arms industry jobs.[20] The government said it would propose legislative changes if CNEMA agreed that the law was insufficient to address investment in cluster munition producers.[21]
Use, production, and transfer
France last used cluster munitions in 1991 in Iraq and Kuwait.[22] It also reportedly used cluster munitions in Chad in 1986.[23]
France says it last produced or exported cluster munitions in 2002.[24] In the past, Giat Industries and Thomson Brandt Armements produced OGR 155mm dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) artillery projectiles, while the company Matra produced BLG-66 Belouga air-dropped cluster bombs.[25]
France listed four former cluster munition producers in its initial Article 7 report, which stated that decommissioning of cluster munition production facilities at Nexter (ex-Luchaire) was completed in July 2010, while Thales TDA was decommissioned prior to the convention’s entry into force.[26] France did not report on the decommissioning process for the two other former producers, SAE Alsetex and Groupe Lacroix.[27]
Prior to 2002, France exported Belouga cluster bombs to Argentina, Cameroon, Greece, and India.[28] A French cluster munition apparently manufactured by Groupe Lacroix was found in Libya’s stocks in 2011.[29]
France has declared an export control policy on materials or components that could be used for the production of cluster munitions to the effect that these goods will not be exported if assurances cannot be obtained that the receiving state will not use them in the production of cluster munitions.[30]
Stockpiling and destruction
France once possessed a stockpile of 34,856 cluster munitions of two types (21,893 M26 rockets and 12,963 OGR 155mm artillery projectiles) containing a total of 14.9 million submunitions.[31] It also destroyed 20 NR-269 155mm artillery projectiles in 2011.[32]
Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, France was required to destroy all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2018.
On 30 June 2016, France announced the completion of the destruction of stockpiled cluster munitions, more than two years in advance of the deadline.[33]
Cluster munition stocks destroyed by France (as of 31 December 2016)[34]
|
Type |
Quantity of cluster munitions (submunitions) |
|
M26 rockets, each containing 644 M77 submunitions |
21,893 (14,099,092) |
|
OGR 155mm artillery projectiles, each containing 63 submunitions |
12,963 (816,669) |
|
NR-269 155mm projectiles, each containing 56 submunitions |
20 (1,120) |
|
Individual submunitions |
— |
|
Total |
34,876 (14,916,881) |
The Ministry of Defense signed stockpile destruction agreements with the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) in 2010, which in turn concluded an agreement with the French company MBDA in 2011 to destroy the stockpile.[35] Under the agreement, MBDA opened a dedicated industrial facility to destroy the stockpile at Bourges-Suddray in July 2014.[36] MBDA also signed an agreement in 2012 with Italian company Esplodenti Sabino to destroy a portion of the stocks at facilities in Lanciano, Italy.[37]
In September 2013, France announced the completion of the destruction of its stockpile of 12,963 OGR 155mm artillery shells and 816,669 submunitions.[38] Approximately 6,000 M26 rockets were the last cluster munitions to be destroyed by France.[39]
France has reported the estimated total cost of its stockpile destruction at €20.2 million, including approximately €18.3 million to destroy the M26 rockets and €585,000 to destroy the OGR cluster munitions.[40]
Retention
In April 2018, France reported that the retention for research and training of three cluster munitions and 190 submunitions.[41] This is a tiny fraction of the total amount of cluster munitions that France initially planned to retain.[42]
France gradually reduced its retained cluster munitions by consuming them in 2012–2016. It did not destroy any cluster munitions or submunitions retained for training in 2017.[43] Since 2017, it has retained three OGR 155mm cargo projectiles containing 189 OGR submunitions, as well as one individual submunition.[44]
France’s national law allowed it to retain 500 cluster munitions and their submunitions plus an additional 400 individual submunitions, a number that French NGOs have criticized as “excessive.”[45]
[1] “Loi no. 2010-819 du 20 juillet 2010 tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions” (“Law No. 2010-819 of 20 July 2010 on the elimination of cluster munitions”), Journal Officiel (Official Journal), No.166, 21 July 2010, consolidated on 2 August 2010. The law prohibits the development, manufacture, production, acquisition, stockpiling, supply, sale, import, export, trade, brokering, transfer, and use of cluster munitions. It provides sanctions for violations of up to 10-years imprisonment and/or a fine of €150,000 (US$198,915). For detailed analysis see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 65–66. Average exchange rate for 2010: €1=US$1.3261. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 6 January 2011.
[2] “Décret no. 2011-737 du 28 juin 2011 pris pour l’application de la loi no. 2010-819 du 20 juillet 2010 tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions” (“Decree No. 2011-737 of 28 June 2011, for the application of the law No. 2010-819 of 20 July 2010 on the elimination of cluster munitions”).
[3] The initial report did not specify a reporting period, while the subsequent annual reports cover activities in the previous calendar year.
[4] For more details on France’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 74–77.
[5] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017. France also voted in favor of a similar resolution in 2016.
[6] Statement of France, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 29 October 2013; and statement of France, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Review Conference, Dubrovnik, 7–11 September 2015.
[7] Statement of France, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.
[8] LCP Assemblée Nationale (LCP National Assembly), “Syrie: Fabius dénonce le recours aux bombes à sous-munitions” (“Syria: Fabius denounces the use of cluster munitions”), 17 October 2012; and “Armes Interdites: Fabius dénonce Damas” (“Prohibited weapons: Fabius denounces Damascus”), Le Figaro, 17 October 2012.
[9] Joint statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Ministry of Defense, “Disarmament - Destruction of French cluster munition stockpiles complete,” 30 June 2016.
[10] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 72/191, 19 December 2017. France voted in favor of similar resolutions on 19 December 2016, on 23 December 2015, in 2014, and on 15 May and 18 December 2013.
[11] UN Security Council Resolution 2228, 29 June 2015.
[12] The resolution noted “with serious concern reports of the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions” and called for “all parties to refrain from similar such use in the future.” UN Security Council, “Security Council, Adopting Resolution 2155 (2014), Extends Mandate of Mission In South Sudan, Bolstering Its Strength to Quell Surging Violence,” SC11414, 27 May 2014.
[13] Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly), “Texte adopté no. 508: Projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions” (“Adopted text No. 508: Bill on the elimination of cluster munitions”), XIII Legislature, Extraordinary session of 2009–2010, 6 July 2010, Art. L. 2344-2.
[14] Ibid., Art. L. 2344-3. This was not the case under France’s implementation law for the Mine Ban Treaty.
[15] Statement by Hubert Falco, Secretary of State for Defense and Veterans, National Assembly, “Elimination des armes à sous-munitions: Discussion d’un projet de loi adopté par le Sénat” (“Elimination of cluster munitions: Discussion of a bill passed by the Senate”), XIII Legislature, Extraordinary session of 2009–2010, 6 July 2010.
[16] Statement of France, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 30 June 2011. Notes by the CMC.
[17] Email from Amb. Alain Girma, Action Against Mines/Explosive Remnants of War, to HI, 8 April 2011.
[18] Statements by Secretary of State Falco, National Assembly, Commission de la defense nationale et des forces armées (Commission on the National Defense and Armed Forces), “Compte rendu no. 37” (“Record No. 37”), XIII Legislature, Ordinary session of 2009–2010, 22 June 2010. Falco also said, “The Government considers without restriction that the scope of the ban as it is now covers the prohibition of commercial activities related to cluster munitions, and therefore transit made in this framework,” and also, “State transit concerns the transit of cluster munitions carried aboard government aircraft or vessels belonging to the armies of countries not party to the Oslo Convention.” He added, “It will be much more useful to work backwards through diplomatic channels at the highest level to inform our partners and non-signatories of our obligations and our requirements.” Statement by Secretary of State Falco, National Assembly, “Elimination des armes à sous-munitions: Discussion d’un projet de loi adopté par le Sénat” (“Elimination of cluster munitions: Discussion of a bill passed by the Senate”), XIII Legislature, Extraordinary session of 2009–2010, 6 July 2010.
[19] Secretary of State Falco said that the government would propose necessary legislative changes if CNEMA, in its monitoring the implementation of the law, viewed the law as insufficient on this point. Parliament statement by Secretary of State Falco, National Assembly, “Elimination des armes à sous-munitions: Discussion d’un projet de loi adopté par le Sénat” (“Elimination of cluster munitions: Discussion of a bill passed by the Senate”), XIII Legislature, Extraordinary session of 2009–2010, 6 July 2010.
[20] Statement by Josselin de Rohan, Senate Foreign Affairs Commission, approved by Hervé Morin, Minister of Defense, during the examination of the implementation bill before the Senate, 6 May 2010. See, Senate, “Séance du 6 mai 2010 (compte rendu intégral des débats)” (“Session of 6 May 2010 (verbatim report of proceedings)”), 6 May 2010.
[21] Parliament statement by Hubert Falco, National Assembly, “Elimination des armes à sous-munitions: Discussion d’un projet de loi adopté par le Sénat” (“Elimination of cluster munitions: Discussion of a bill passed by the Senate”), XIII Legislature, Extraordinary session of 2009–2010, 6 July 2010.
[22] French Republic, “Projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions: Etude d’impact” (“Impact study on the bill on the elimination of cluster munitions”), 25 November 2009.
[23] See, HRW and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 77.
[24] French Republic, “Projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions: Etude d’impact” (“Impact study on the bill on the elimination of cluster munitions”), 25 November 2009.
[25] In addition, MBDA (a French-Italian-British joint venture) was a subcontractor for M26 rockets for the multiple launch rocket system (MLRS); Alkan, a branch of MBDA, made submunition dispensers for aircraft; and TDA Armements (a branch of THALES) produced a 120mm mortar projectile that was not part of French stockpiles but sent to one client state (unnamed). Jean-Pierre Plancade and Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, Rapporteurs of the Senate Foreign Affairs Commission, on behalf of the Senate Foreign Affairs Commission, “Les armes à sous-munitions: Rapport d’information no. 118 (2006–2007)” (“Cluster munitions: Information report No. 118 (2006–2007)”), 13 December 2006; and Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004).
[26] The Belouga bomb production line was destroyed at the end of the 1970s; as for the other submunitions, TDA was only an integrator and the assembly lines were dismantled. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form E, 31 January 2011, p. 96.
[27] France has continued to state “état néant” or “nil” on the conversion or decommissioning of the two producers. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form E, 30 April 2014, p. 67; 30 April 2013, p. 85; 31 April 2012, p. 99; and 31 January 2011, p. 96.
[28] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004). According to a media report, Nigerian forces participating in an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping mission used Belouga cluster bombs in Sierra Leone during its civil war. “10 killed in Nigerian raid in eastern Sierra Leone,” Agence France-Presse, 11 December 1997.
[29] In 2011, The New York Times reporter CJ Chivers came across a submunition at a government ammunition depot in Ga’a western Libya that had been ejected from a storage bunker in NATO airstrikes. In 2011, he identified it as a Type 314-A AV submunition formerly sold by Alkan SA of Valenton, apparently with design or manufacturing assistance from Société E. Lacroix (now part of the Etienne Lacroix Group) of Muret, whose coded marking—LXT—the submunition bears. See, CJ Chivers, “French Cluster Munitions in Libya, and a Call for Help,” The New York Times, 10 October 2012.
[30] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form A, 30 April 2013, pp. 4–5; 30 April 2012, p. 5; and 31 January 2011, p. 3.
[31] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 31 January 2011, pp. 9–85. The report states that the 81 cluster munitions containing 4,963 submunitions and an additional 2,897 individual submunitions were destroyed from stockpiles held by industry. The M26 rockets contain 644 submunitions each, with a total of 14,099,092 submunitions stockpiled. The OGR shells contain 63 submunitions each, for a total of 816,669. The M26 rockets and OGR artillery shells were withdrawn from operational service in May 2008 and November 2008, respectively. French Republic, “Projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions: Etude d’impact” (“Impact study on the bill on the elimination of cluster munitions”), 25 November 2009.
[32] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2012, p. 88.
[33] Joint statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Ministry of Defense, “Disarmament - Destruction of French cluster munition stockpiles complete,” 30 June 2016.
[34] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form B, 30 April 2015, pp. 32–35; 30 April 2014, p. 60; 30 April 2013, p. 78; 30 April 2012, pp. 88–90; and 31 January 2011, p. 89. France’s April 2015 transparency report contains a mathematical inconsistency with respect to the total number of M26 rockets declared stockpiled and those declared destroyed. This equates to a difference between the quantity of M26 rockets and submunitions declared destroyed by France and the totals for which Cluster Munition Monitor cannot account. Initially France declared the possession of 21,893 M26 rockets. It subsequently reported the destruction of the following numbers of M26 rockets (by year): 10 (2011), 3,216 (in 2012), 4,380 (in 2013), and 8,304 (in 2014). This totals 15,910 M26 rockets. France, in its report for calendar year 2014, reported the destruction of 15,600 M26 rockets since entry into force. There appears to be a difference of 306 M26 rockets declared stockpiled and destroyed by France in its transparency reporting from 2011 to 2014. It is not clear if France over-reported the number of rockets destroyed in 2014, under-reported previous stockpiles, or if this issue is the result of a clerical error. There is a similar error with respect to the number of M77 submunitions reported destroyed in 2014, but this appears to be a clerical error tied to the M26 error in the stockpile reporting form.
[35] Agreement between NAMSA and MBDA, No. LG-UJ/4500247043; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2014, pp. 59–60.
[36] Olivier Fourt, “L’usine de démantèlement d’armes à sous-munitions de Bourges” (“Weapons Dismantling Plan in Bourges”), Radio France International, 6 July 2014.
[37] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2015, p. 35.
[38] Statement of France, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 12 September 2013.
[39] In April 2015, France reported that 6,289 M26 rockets and 4,104,212 submunitions remained to be destroyed as of 31 December 2014. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2015, pp. 32–35. There appeared to be a mathematical error in the reporting as 6,289 M26 rockets, each containing 644 M77 submunitions, totals 4,050,116 submunitions.
[40] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2015, p. 34.
[42] France initially reported that it would retain 55 cluster munitions containing 10,284 submunitions and 58 additional individual submunitions. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form C, 31 January 2011.
[43] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form C, 30 April 2017.
[45] Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly), “Texte adopté no. 508: Projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions” (“Adopted text No. 508: Bill on the elimination of cluster munitions”), XIII Legislature, Extraordinary session of 2009–2010, 6 July 2010, Art. L. 2344-4. In French, “Sont également autorisés, à ce titre, leurs sous-munitions explosives, auxquelles s’ajoute un nombre complémentaire de quatre cents sous-munitions explosives acquises hors conteneur.” French Republic, “Projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions: Etude d’impact” (“Impact study on the bill on the elimination of cluster munitions”), 25 November 2009; and statement of France, Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions, 26 June 2009. Notes by Landmine Action. See also, HI and Amnesty International France, “Analyse préliminaire du projet de loi tendant à l’élimination des armes à sous-munitions et proposition d’amendements” (“Preliminary analysis of the bill to eliminate cluster munitions and suggested amendments”), 8 April 2010.
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The French Republic signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 23 July 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. National implementing legislation, which includes penal sanctions, was enacted on 8 July 1998.
France previously played a prominent role in promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, with a special focus on compliance issues. France served as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Technologies for Mine Action (1999–2000), and as co-rapporteur and then co-chair of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance (2001–2003). France has attended all Mine Ban Treaty Meetings of States Parties and intersessional meetings, but has not served in a leadership role within the treaty since 2003.
France attended the treaty’s Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. More recently, France attended the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018 and the intersessional meetings in May 2019. At the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, France expressed concern over systematic funding issues within the convention, and encouraged states to meet their full financial contribution obligations.[1]
France is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Production, transfer, stockpiling, and use
In the past, France produced, exported, and used antipersonnel mines. France completed destruction of its stockpile of 1,397,547 antipersonnel mines on 20 December 1999, well in advance of its 1 March 2003 treaty-mandated deadline. France initially retained 4,539 antipersonnel mines for training and development purposes, but this number was reduced to 3,941 by the end of 2011.[2] Since 2011, France has not consumed any of the mines retained for training and research.
On 28 May 2008, in advance of its 1 March 2009 mine clearance deadline, France declared it had successfully completed clearance of a mined area around an ammunition storage area near La Doudah, Djibouti. France has no known mined areas, but mines and unexploded ordnance from World War I and World War II are occasionally found.
[1] Statement of France, Mine Ban Treaty Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 30 November 2018.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Form D, 30 April 2012.
Support for Mine Action
In 2016, the French Republic contributed €2.9 million (US$3.2 million)[1] in mine action funding, nearly three-times as much as in 2015, when it provided €1 million ($1.1 million).
France’s largest contribution went to Iraq and Syria for clearance and risk education activities, representing 54% of its total support in 2016.
As in previous years, France also allocated a large part of its contribution, some $1.3 million (41%), to provide training to the West African Humanitarian Mine Action Training Center based in the Benin (Centre de perfectionnement aux actions post conflictuelles de déminage et de dépollution, CPADD), as well as in Cambodia, Lebanon, and Niger.
In addition to financial support, France provided in-kind assistance valued at €175,000 ($193,760) to support clearance operations in Ukraine.[2]
Contributions by recipient: 2015[3]
|
Recipient |
Sector |
Amount (€) |
Amount (US$) |
|
Iraq and Syria |
Clearance and risk education |
1,580,000 |
1,749,376 |
|
Global |
Capacity-building |
829,518 |
918,442 |
|
Benin |
Capacity-building |
373,950 |
414,037 |
|
Yemen |
Clearance and risk education |
140,000 |
155,008 |
|
Global |
Advocacy |
9,000 |
9,965 |
|
Total |
|
2,932,468 |
3,246,828 |
From 2012–2016, France’s contribution for mine action totaled more than €8.6 million ($10.6 million), with an annual contribution averaging €1.7 million ($2.1 million). This is about one-quarter less than the €11.3 million ($15.7 million) contributed during the previous five-year period from 2007–2011.[4]
Summary of contributions: 2012–2016[5]
|
Year |
Amount (€) |
Amount (US$) |
% change from previous years (US$) |
|
2016 |
2,932,468 |
3,246,828 |
+193 |
|
2015 |
1,000,000 |
1,109,600 |
-49 |
|
2014 |
1,625,785 |
2,161,806 |
+3 |
|
2013 |
1,578,050 |
2,095,808 |
+7 |
|
2012 |
1,528,750 |
1,965,819 |
+46 |
|
Total |
8,665,053 |
10,579,861 |
|
[1] Average exchange rate for 2016: €1=US$1.1072. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 4 January 2017.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 15 May 2017.
[3] Ibid.