Austria

2015: Attended the state consultations on the SSD in Geneva – led by Norway + 2015: Present at the First International Conference on the SSD in Oslo.

Consistently proactive and supportive both in Gva and in NY. January-March 2017: Member of Core Group in Geneva. Conducted outreach to Croatia and some toher countries to encourage endorsement. Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools.

April 2017: Attended post-conference briefing for missions in New York. August 2017: Save the Children Geneva and GCPEA met with the Mission of Austria to discuss opportunities for cooperation on the Declaration, discussing peer advocacy, increasing visibility, funding, and other issues.

September 2017: the Mission of Austria advised that the Government will carry out peer and advocacy to persuade Croatia, Estonia and Germany to endorse the Declaration. The ambassador in Zagreb will issue a demarche to the Croatian ministry, the ministry in Vienna will speak with the Ambassador of Croatia and the Mission in Geneva will contact the Mission of Croatia at expert level. The representative will speak with the expert in the Mission of Germany.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the Ambassador of New York asking to raise the issue of attacks and military use and draw attention to the Declaration and Guidelines during the Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.

October 2017: Cristal attended a meeting with the Counsellor Katharina Konzett-Stoffl and Attache Michael Pfeifer in order to conduct advocacy in lead-up to the Open Debate on CAAC, with the goal of encourage Austria to include certain messages in their interventions. The Counsellor complemented the outreach we have conducted in recent weeks, and said that the materials we sent were very useful for drafting their intervention. The intervention will definitely mention the Declaration and call on other states to endorse. It will also mention strengthening protection capacities in the field and something about non-state actors that the Counsellor couldn’t remember.

February 2018: GCPEA is working with Save the Children Brussels to encourage Austria to host a briefing for EU Political and Security Committee Ambassadors in Brussels aimed at encouraging further endorsement by EU member states. Three-quarters of the EU has currently endorsed. The 7 non-endorsing states are Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and the United Kingdom. GCPEA met with the Austria MFA in Vienna to propose that Austria’s embassy in Brussels the event.

March 2018: During the Clustered Interactive Dialogue with SRSG Gamba, Austria highlighted their support for the Declaration in their national statements.

March 2018: GCPEA prepared a concept note proposing that Austria’s embassy in Brussels host a lunch briefing on the Declaration for EU PSC Ambassadors as part of their EU Presidency, which begins in July. GCPEA shared the concept note with the MFA in Vienna, while Save the Children Brussels presented the concept note to the embassy in Brussels during a meeting with the expert. It is hoped that Austria will agree to host the lunch as part of their peer advocacy efforts to secure full EU endorsement.

July 2018: Joined Argentina’s joint statement to the UN SC during the open debate on children and armed conflict. Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).Mentioned and welcomed the Safe Schools Declaration during the statement to the SC. Austria also joined the statement of Canada on behalf of the GoF which mentioned the Safe Schools Declaration. In their statement mentioned “Attacks on schools put children at risk of injury or death. Girls are often disproportionately impacted and are less likely to return to school even when the situation has become safer.”

November 2018: Core Group meeting: Spain conference: Austria shared that the EU Council Conclusions on education in emergencies will include a reference to the Declaration and the conference. They also referred to their hosting of the GCPEA briefing in Brussels as part of their EU Presidency.

January 2019: GCPEA shared materials and provided guidance to Austria in advance of a seminar they were hosting on international humanitarian law. During the seminar, Austria highlighted the Safe School Declaration and the EU Council Conclusions on Education in Emergencies.

March 2019: attended GCPEA side-event on “Better Protecting Women and Girls from Attacks on Education” in Geneva. During interventions from the floor, the Ambassador of Austria encouraged endorsement and implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, and participation in the Spain conference. Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG CAAC Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva: joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma. during the UN Security Council Open Debate on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict referred to the Safe Schools Declaration.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

November 2022: Endorsed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) on 18 November during an International Conference hosted by Ireland, the leader and penholder behind the Declaration.2015: Attended the state consultations on the SSD in Geneva – led by Norway.