Civilian protections highlight annual UN push to boost treaty ratifications

With the recent string of violent terrorist attacks and last year’s deadly bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Iraq showing that civilians are increasingly the main victims of armed conflicts, treaties that protect the rights of civilians will be the focus this year of the annual push to boost ratification of global conventions, UN officials said today.

During a four-day forum that starts next Tuesday – to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly’s annual general debate, when many Heads of State and senior government officials are at UN Headquarters in New York – officials of the world body will try to encourage as many Member States as possible to ratify some of the more than 500 global pacts.

Palitha Kohona, Chief of the UN Treaty Section, told a press briefing that there is increasing recognition that civilians are bearing more and more of the brunt of armed conflicts around the world.

Mr. Kohona said many treaties or conventions already exist to offer protection to non-combatants during times of war, but to work effectively they must be ratified by as many nations as possible.

“The multilateral treaty framework which underpins most of international relations today is fundamentally important to the UN,” he said, urging States which have not done so to re-examine their positions and ratify treaties.