UN General Assembly Annual Resolutions
A recurrent opportunity for States to indicate their support for the ban on antipersonnel mines is their vote on the annual UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. UNGA Resolution 63/42, for example, was adopted on 2 December 2008 by a vote of 163 in favor, none opposed, and 18 abstentions. Of the 39 states (at that time) not party to the treaty, 18 voted in favor, 18 abstained, and three were absent.
Since the first UNGA resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997, the number of states voting in favor has ranged from a low of 139 in 1999 to a high of 164 in 2007. The number of states abstaining has ranged from a high of 23 in 2002 and 2003 to a low of 17 in 2005 and 2006. Several states that consistently abstained or were absent are now voting in favor, including Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), the Marshall Islands, and Morocco.
Read more about this topic: Ottawa Treaty
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