Latvia

2015: Attended the state consultations on the SSD in Geneva – led by Norway.

July 2016: Bede meeting with capital. First briefing, MFA open to the idea,but also suggested it would need involvement of ministries of welfare, education, defence, and the foreign ministry’s international law people.

February 2017: Ambassador replied to letter to advise that Latvia would not attend Buenos Aires conference. Indicated willingness to meet following conference but has not been available.

February 2018: In advance of OPAC turns 18 event, GCPEA issued letter highlighting that Latvia has signed OPAC, Paris, and Vancouver, but not the Declaration,and calling for endorsement.

June 2018: Zama met with H.E. Ms. Agnese Vilde, Deputy Permanent Representative, who was very receptive, aware of recent endorsements, and the dwindling number of EU hold outs. Other Baltic states have been talking about it, too. she wanted to know more about the procedure and said her Ministry would need to get the Ministry of Defence on board. They were planning to do a joint statement with the other Baltic states at the open debate, but it would probably be too soon to endorse by then. (The Baltic statement referred to endorsement by Mali.) They would speak with Norway, who would likely be influential. Zama followed up in writing to share a letter for the Foreign Minister and the DPR replied to say she had shared everything with capital for their consideration. Gisela asked Norway to reach out.

July 2018: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).

September 2018: Gisela met with an expert from the Mission of Latvia. It seemed that the topic was quite new to her but she promised to share the update with her capital and would try to get her Ministry to engage the other concerned line ministries – Defence, Education, and Welfare. She hadn’t seen any report of Zama’s meeting in New York in June, and she didn’t have any background information on why Latvia hasn’t endorsed yet (we discussed the various possible reasons). She took careful note of the level of endorsement in the EU, Council of Europe, and NATO. She also took note of how UNSC 2427, which Latvia co-sponsored, calls for concrete measures to deter military use. She seemed to be aware of the joint statement by the Baltic states at the CAAC open debate, which welcomed Mali’s endorsement. She was interested by the UK and German endorsements and the Spain conference. Follow-up: followed up in writing. Will issue a WPS open debate letter to the Foreign Minister.

September 2018: Ahead of the UN WPS open debate, GCPEA a letter addressed to Foreign Minister sent to the Mission in New York. The letter encourages the government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and advocate for continued access to quality, conflict-sensitive education for women and girls.

February 2019: GCPEA met with the Second Secretary. This was the second meeting so she was already briefed on the process. She looked positively on the growing number of endorsements and highlighted Latvia’s engagement on IHL and the protection of civilians agenda. The Ministry of Defence had expressed concerns that the terms used in the Guidelines are not consistent with the terminology used in Latvia’s defence doctrine. GCPEA responded the use of the Guidelines does not require the exact text to be incorporated directly, and gave examples of changes to military manuals and doctrine by Denmark, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Follow-up: GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister.

July 2019: GCPEA sent a meeting request to the Permanent Mission in New York in advance of the UNSC CAAC debate. The Mission responded that they are very well aware of this initiative and had been discussing and analyzing all its aspects nationally. As of today there is no decision taken yet from their Government and it is still being considered by all involved authorities. They will keep us informed on the further developments on this matter.

April 2020: GPCEA Secretariat met with the Mission of Latvia to the UN in New York. There has been no change in Latvia’s position but GCPEA will need to ramp up our lobbying efforts and explore different avenues at global and national level. The Latvia Mission took note of the level of endorsement in the EU and NATO (e.g. Estonia) as well as the opportunity to announce endorsement at the upcoming UN SC debate on protection of civilians. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is supportive, however the Ministry of Defense is not.

Oct 2020: GCPEA (Nevena and Zama) had a call with the Ambassador in New York to discuss the Safe Schools Declaration and the upcoming WPS debate. During the call, the Ambassador asked GCPEA to share information about the ICRC position on the Declaration, attacks on schools in Nagorno-Karabach as well as on the US engagement on the Declaration.

June 2021: GCPEA met with the Latvia Mission in New York (newly appointed military advisor and defence counsellor and first committee expert). The military advisor highlighted that there is no issue from a military aspect, and they do not plan on using schools for military purposes. The endorsement is more a political decision. At the same time, he asked what the added value of the Declaration is to already existing UNSC resolutions, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the actions on implementation that need to be taken once endorsed. He was also interested in hearing about the experience of Ukraine and other countries in conflict. From a legal perspective, he highlighted that one problem is the discrepancy of language in the SSD and the Geneva Conventions. He was also interested in the US position. The first committee expert emphasized political support for the issue of protecting schools. Yatasha and Bede provided an update on the increase in endorsement and the commitments made by the EU in support of the Declaration, including at the recent COHAFA meeting where Zama presented. We also made a case for Latvia to endorse, referring to their endorsement of the Vancouver Principles and a recent Nordic-Baltic statement. We also provided an update on SSD initiatives, notably the International Conference and the international training. We also urged for endorsement at the CAAC debate or ahead of the International Conference – highlighting the significance of unity within the EU on the issue. In reply to the questions, we responded that the Declaration fleshes out the steps that armed forces can take to ensure they are not infringing on existing commitments. The Guidelines give content to both IHL and human rights – bringing direction on how both bodies of law protect students and teachers. Further, the Declaration ensures a community of like-minded states and the sharing of good practice. On implementation, steps include updating training, military manuals, and policies to protect schools and education. The Guidelines provide latitude to armed forces to decide what works in their context (we shared examples of good practice, including Denmark, the UK, Ukraine, Nigeria). GCPEA research also shows the process of endorsement has resulted in a decrease in military use in 12 endorsing countries. One of the benefits of the SSD and its broader language is that every state has the flexibility to decide how it implements it.

February 2022: On 02 February, GCPEA had a meeting with Pēteris Filipsons, in charge of peacekeeping, peacebuilding commission, disarmament issues, and protection of civilians portfolios at the NY mission. GCPEA met with their mission twice in 2021 (including with military adviser). GCPEA provided a short recap on the SSD and emphasized arguments as to why Latvia should endorse the Declaration – growing support at the EU/NATO level, new EU policy that promotes the SSD, stressing that PoC is a strong priority for Latvia, and that endorsement will bolster their candidacy for the Security Council for the term 2026-2027. The representative was very frank and said that his country was not ready to endorse in the near future. Given the current security situation (Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine), their MoD will be reluctant to change their position and their contingency plans which allow them to use schools for defense purposes. He asked about Russia, Belarus and Ukraine’s position on the SSD, and we presented examples of good practice in Ukraine and other countries. We asked him if a meeting with the Ministries in capital would be helpful and he agreed that it would be a good idea once the Covid restrictions are lifted and the tensions with Russia de-escalate.

January 2023: Latvia’s national statement at the recent World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education: We have to agree on joint action to protect preschool education from military aggression in countries and regions torn by armed conflict. Latvia will continue work in the SDG steering committee which will oversee the transforming education summit global initiative on education in crisis situation, so that no child is deprived of his/her right to quality education and care.