On 30 November, Ambassador Jan Eliasson, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board, participated in an international conference to commemorate the 150th anniversary of St Petersburg Declaration.
The conference, ‘150th Anniversary of St Petersburg Declaration Renouncing the Use, in Times of War, of Certain Explosive Projectiles: New Context, Undiminished Relevance’, was jointly organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The conference was co-chaired by ICRC President, Peter Maurer, and the Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Valentina Matvienko, and was attended by diplomats, parliamentarians and leading experts in the field of international humanitarian law and humanitarian action from 20 countries.
Addressing the participants of the conference, Jan Eliasson stressed that the respect of the principle of humanity, formulated by the St Petersburg declaration 150 years ago, is as essential today as it was back in 1868. Wars must be conducted without the breach of the laws of humanity, he said.
Jan Eliasson also delivered a key-note speech at a panel discussion where he addressed the current trends of humanitarian action and the role SIPRI plays to make the world a safer place.
See some of the highlights of the conference here.
For further details on SIPRI’s participation in the St Petersburg Conference please contact Elena Haapaniemi, Personal Assistant to the Director at SIPRI (elena.haapaniemi@sipri.org, +46 702 62 77 88).