Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlswitzerland



Switzerland <![CDATA[Switzerland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 24 March 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Swiss law prohibits transit of antipersonnel mines through Switzerland for any purpose, including peacekeeping operations.

Production of antipersonnel mines ceased in 1969 and export of antipersonnel mines was banned in December 1996. Destruction of 3.85 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines was completed by 15 March 1999, with none retained for permitted training and development purposes.

Switzerland submitted its Article 7 report for calendar year 2002 on 30 April 2003. Four previous Article 7 reports have been submitted. The reports are brief, since the country is not mine-affected, has destroyed its mine stockpiles, and has retained no mines for training purposes.

As a new member of the United Nations, for the first time Switzerland co-sponsored and voted in favor of the annual pro-Mine Ban Treaty resolution, UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, in November 2002.

In 2002, Switzerland provided mine action funding of US$9,061,714. This compares to $8.43 million in 2001. Of the 2002 total, nearly half ($4.35 million) went to general support for the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

Countries receiving Swiss mine action funding in 2002 for the first time were Afghanistan, Angola, Colombia, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. Countries continuing to receive Swiss funding in 2002 were Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chad, Croatia, Eritrea, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Kosovo). Funding ceased for Yemen.

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