M. President, 

I have the honour of delivering this joint statement on behalf of the co-chairs of the workstream on protecting civilian infrastructure within the framework of the Global Initiative to Galvanize political commitment to IHL, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and my own country Algeria. 

This joint statement is also endorsed by 109 additional states. 

Mr. President, 

It is with our utmost regret that we must recognize that armed conflict is a defining feature of our time. 

Approximately one quarter of the world’s population, more than two billion people, live in places affected by armed conflict. 

If we are to ensure the universal enjoyment of human rights, we must dedicate ourselves to addressing the impact that armed conflict has on the enjoyment of these rights. 

The protection of civilian infrastructure and the essential services they provide civilians, is fundamental to this end. 

Mr. President, 

When civilian infrastructure is attacked, people are forced to bear the unbearable. 

Civilians working at the infrastructure or living nearby, are killed and injured. Survivors must cope with agonizing physical and mental afflictions. They are left in shock and often forced to flee. 

The indirect effects of attacks against or impacting such infrastructure send a cascading wave of suffering. These are vital lifelines for humanity. 

For example, we know that when hospitals, water-purification stations, food production centres, and schools no longer function because the infrastructure enabling them is damaged and destroyed, patients die, diseases, malnutrition and starvation spread, and education stops.

What is at stake are violations of the human rights we are gathered here to protect. 

These include, among others, the right to life, the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the right to adequate food and housing, the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and the right to education.

Mr. President, 

IHL and human rights law are complementary bodies of law. 

Like human rights law, the object and purpose of IHL is fundamentally to protect the lives, health and dignity of individuals. 

What we have seen over the past years and decades of armed conflict hardly resembles what the law requires of warring parties. 

We see infrastructure which does not exhibit a close connection to the fighting attacked, not to weaken the adversary’s military capabilities, but to achieve purely political aims, to undermine and degrade economies, or demoralize civilian populations. 

We see the obvious indirect effects of attacks against infrastructure ignored and allowed to ravage societies with cascading and cumulative ramifications. 

We see parties abuse their control over civilian infrastructure, to deprive civilians of essential services either to put pressure on the adversary, or as a form of punishment to the civilians themselves. We see civilian infrastructure misused by warring parties for military purposes, putting it at risk of being attacked. 

Mr. President, 

If IHL is disregarded, if it is abused to justify rather than restrain the calamities of war, we will fail in our collective mission to protect human beings at all times. This has a direct impact on our capacity to promote and protect human rights around the globe. 

We therefore call on all parties to faithfully comply with IHL. Without exception. Permissive interpretation of IHL is not acceptable. 

We further reaffirm our collective devotion not only to the letter of IHL, but also its humanitarian spirit.

During armed conflict, IHL is our collective red line. Our actions today determine where that line will be drawn for future generations. 

I thank you.

This statement was delivered by Algeria, on behalf of the other co-chairs of WS4: Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and the following states endorsed the statement: 

Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe