Luxembourg

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

August 2016: CAAC Open Debate: Mentioned government attacks on schools in Syria.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use, draw attention to the Declaration and the Guidelines during the Open Debate on children and armed conflict.

October 2017: Cristal attended a meeting with the Counsellor Rene Lauer in order to conduct advocacy in lead-up to the Open Debate on CAAC, with the goal of encourage Luxembourg to include certain messages in their interventions. The Counsellor is new to the position so asked me to tell him about the Declaration in more detail, as he wasn’t very well acquainted with it. He took note of Cristal suggestions for his intervention. He comes from a Development background, and asked how Luxembourg could support the Declaration in the medium to long term. Cristal mentioned the points in the Concept Note on Country Leadership, including the third conference and support for our work. She also mentioned that GCPEA had been in touch with someone from Luxembourg about possible support, as well as meetings on the Declaration in Geneva. He asked to let him know who we have been in touch with on both of those topics, and seemed interested in exploring possible support a bit further, possibly through a meeting with the DPR or PR in New York, which he would facilitate. He also mentioned that any delay or lack of communications earlier in the year might have been because there were some internal changes in government, and he thinks that the new high-level personnel in the relevant ministries may now form a better “constellation of stars” for support.

May 2018: The Declaration was raised during a meeting of the Group of Friends on Children and the SDGs, as tweeted by the Mission of Luxembourg, who highlighted the importance of endorsing. In follow up, GCPEA provided an explainer on the Declaration which was distributed to the GoF members.

July 2018: 1)Joined Argentina’s joint statement to the UN SC during the open debate on children and armed conflict. 2)Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018). 3) Mentioned and welcomed the Safe Schools Declaration during the statement to the SC. 4) also joined the statement of Canada on behalf of the GoF which mentioned the Safe Schools Declaration.

October 2018: UN WPS open debate advocacy in New York: Gisela gave a quick pitch to an expert who doesn’t cover WPS but said he would share the information with his colleague who does. Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister and gender recommendations sent by email.

November 2018: HRW has made a submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child re Luxembourg, praising them for their support for the Safe Schools Declaration (and Luxembourg for their Security Council Resolution), and encouraging them to share examples of implementation in Spain next year.

March 2019: mentioned their endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration during the Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG CAAC Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva. Also joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.
May 2019: during the UN Security Council Open Debate on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict referred to the Safe Schools Declaration.

September 2020: GCPEA met with the UN Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting discussed the possibility of Luxembourg co-hosting the fifth International Conference on Safe Schools and global advocacy on endorsement and implementation of the Declaration.

September 2021: hosted the Eurasia consultation for the state-led implementation network.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

December 2021: Positive statement at Arria formula meeting on the protection of education during armed conflict citing the SSD. “The protection of education must be a priority in the action of the UNSC for the maintenance of peace and security”; “The Safe Schools Declaration constitutes a key engagement for the protection of students, teachers, schools and universities in armed conflict. Luxembourg is proud to be among the early signatories to this Declaration. In order to strengthen the Declaration, Luxembourg organised, in September, a regional consultation with Europe and Central Asia endorsing states, in preparation to the Fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration, which took place in Abuja, Nigeria, at the end of October. We encourage all member states to actively work at the national and regional level to ensure the full implementation of this Declaration”

April 2022: GCPEA met with Ms. Levina Gordet Attachée (Human Rights expert) and Ms. Lynn Tockert (human rights situation in North Africa/Middle East) on 26 April at the Geneva Mission. This meeting came as a follow-up to the Geneva workshop (24 March 2022) in which Luxembourg was actively engaged and interested in exploring further collaboration. The representatives stated that Luxembourg would like to continue to bring up the issue of protecting education and the SSD in UN forums, and asked us to share specific recommendations with them ahead of debates and resolutions (at the HRC but also through other avenues such as EWIPA). They recommended that we try to provide input for country-specific resolutions. They also suggested to hold preparatory meetings with the Core Group ahead of HRC sessions to discuss language suggestions for resolutions and to do joint statements. GCPEA encouraged them to work with their MoD to implement the Guidelines. We also briefed them on the activities of the state-led network and encouraged them to support the organization of an activity for the network in 2023 or beyond.

April 2022: HRC Special Session on Ukraine – Luxembourg made references to attacks on schools.

May 2022: GCPEA met with Tom Reisen, Deputy Director for Public Affairs at the Foreign Ministry. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss activities through the Implementation Network, and beyond, as a follow-up to the regional consultation organised by Luxembourg last year. GCPEA presented the plans for the Sahel workshop on SSD implementation, the research paper on national accountability, the Toolkit, and the work with NSAGs, and asked if Luxembourg would be interested in supporting any of these activities. Ukraine/Russia and Sahel region are top two priorities for Luxembourg on this topic. Tom promised to check whether Luxembourg can support and co-host the Sahel workshop. He also emphasized that they were interested in the work on accountability and engagement with NSAGs. Luxembourg also expressed strong interest to host the 6th international conference on safe schools.

July 2022: At the UNSC CAAC debate : – “Russia must immediately stop its indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas, including schools and hospitals. We call on all States to sign and implement the Safe Schools Declaration, which provides a relevant framework for action.”

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.

March 2023: During ID with SRSG CAAC, national statement:
– The constant increase in attacks on schools, linked to the increasing use of airstrikes and use of explosive weapons is a clear violation of IHL
– Proud to have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration and call on all states to do the same