Transcribed Statement of the Ambassador of Belgium
M. Jean Lint 1-3-01

Mr. President, first of all I would like to congratulate you on acceding to what is a thankless but certainly a fascinating position as President of the Conference. Please be assured that you can rely on full cooperation from Belgium in your endeavor to remove the Conference from its three years of standstill. I am taking the floor today sir as the Co-Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status and Overall Functioning of the Convention Prohibiting Anti-Personnel Landmines otherwise known as the Ottawa Convention. The first of March is an especially important date for the Convention since it signals the second anniversary of its entry into force when the 40th ratification, that of Burkina Faso was recorded on the first of March 1999. To date with the recent ratification by Zambia, one hundred and eleven states have ratified the Convention. Needless to say sir, this is a notable success in the move toward universality for the convention. And it is in this context that I would take the liberty of encouraging all states not yet parties to the Convention to ratify or accede to it as soon as possible. I thank you sir.