Topic:
Country: Germany
Delegate Name: Anay Moitra
Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are weapons constructed and deployed in ways other than conventional military action. These weapons take thousands of lives every year, according to a review of selected international media reports, and have inflicted physical injuries, damaged critical infrastructure, and spread disruption across numerous affected communities. The worst part is that these weapons are not manufactured through government control but are privatized, meaning traditional arms regulation approach might not yield results. IEDs are known to be used by non-state armed groups and rogue individuals. They target civilians and maximize societal disruption and terrorization. In 2015 alone, suicide attacks with IEDs occurred in 10 percent of member countries, so the proliferation of IEDs is unmistakable. Since about half of the world’s countries have been affected by these attacks, the Disarmament and International Security Committee must find a solution with haste that decreases the threat of such weapons.
Germany has dealt with IEDs by witnessing homemade landmines first-hand. In 1996, Germany banned the use of landmines, thus lending further impetus to the global prohibition of anti-personnel mines. Since then, Germany has been at the forefront of dealing with IED threats. The country played a role in the Oslo Process which banned cluster munitions and is an active participant in the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines and the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. To further fight this issue, Germany has joined the Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence. One of 26 NATO Accredited Centres of Excellence, this committee is also staffed by Spain, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, United States, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Sweden, Netherlands, and Portugal. By collaborating with various other countries, Germany hopes to reduce and eliminate IED threats.
The questions raised by the use of improvised explosive devices are of great significance for the shaping of German security and defense policy. In the committee, Germany will cooperate with like-minded countries to open negotiations on a resolution that reduces and eliminates threats from homemade explosive weapons. The resolution must include a clear step-by-step procedure, that Germany plans to discuss in committee, for achieving international extermination of such devices. The world has seen the destructive power of IEDs, so it needs to come up with a solution to stop it.
