Guidelines for 
signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession 
of the Tampere Convention

Background:

The Intergovernmental Conference on Emergency Telecommunications (ICET-98), convened by the Government of Finland, took place on 16 - 18 June 1998 in Tampere, Finland.  ICET-98 adopted the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations.  On 18 June 1998, a number of States signed the Convention (subject to ratification).

The United Nations Secretary-General is the Depositary of the Convention (Art. 16).  The Office of Legal Affairs, Treaty Section, United Nations Headquarters, New York, is in charge of the relevant procedures.   The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs is the Operational Coordinator for the application of the Convention (Art.2).   The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Geneva Office, is in charge of the implementation and execution of the respective functions and works closely with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The  Working Group on Emergency Telecommunications (WGET),  regularly convened by OCHA and including all partners in international humanitarian assistance as well as the ITU,  serves as the advisory board for the work.  OCHA maintains, under its project on Emergency Telecommunications with and in the Field, the secretariat of the WGET.

A State may express its consent to be bound by the convention by any of the following means:

a) by definitive signature;

b) by signature subject to ratification, acceptance or approval followed by deposit of an instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval;

c) by deposit of an instrument of ratification.

The consent of a State to be bound may be expressed at any time;  in view of the urgent need for the full application of the Convention it is, however, desirable, that the procedures for this purpose be completed with the depositary as soon as possible.   Procedures relating to signature should follow the instructions in the attached note by the Legal Counsel of the United Nations.  On all related matter it is advised that the assistance of the Treaty Section of the United Nations be sought.  The Convention will enter into force thirty days after the deposit of such instruments by thirty States.

The Key elements of the Tampere Convention:

The Convention has the purpose to expedite and facilitate the use of emergency telecommunications within the framework of international humanitarian assistance.  Such telecommunication assistance can be provided as a direct assistance, provided to national institutions and / or a location or region affected by a disaster, and / or as part or in support of other disaster
mitigation and relief activities.
 
The Convention defines the status of the personnel of the various partners in international humanitarian assistance, including that of government entities, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other non-state entities, and defines their privileges and immunities.

The Convention fully protects the interests of the States requesting and receiving assistance.  The host government retains the right to supervise the assistance.

The Convention foresees the establishment of bilateral agreements between the provider(s) of assistance and the State requesting/receiving such assistance.   Standard frameworks for such agreements will be developed by the WGET.  To avoid delay in the delivery of assistance, "best practices" will be codified into common implementing language.   The use of such model agreements, which will be made available in hard copy and electronic format, will allow the immediate application of the Tampere Convention in any sudden impact disaster situation.

Contacts:

For all matters related to the functions of the Depositary, i.e.  signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession:

 United Nations,
 Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs (OLA),
 New York, NY
 Phone:  +1 212 963-3918 / 963-5047,  Fax:  +1 212 963-3693

For all matters related to the Operational Coordinator, i.e. implementation and application:

 United Nations,
 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
 Disaster Response Branch  (WGET Secretariat)
 Geneva, Switzerland
 Phone:  +41 22 917-2184,  Fax: +41 22 917-0023
 e-mail:  ghaly@un.org

For all matters related to the ITU:

 International Telecommunication Union
 Mr. Mohamed Harbi
 Special Advisor to the Secretary-General
 Phone:+41 22 730-5571, Fax:+41 22 730-5137, 
 e-mail: Mohamed.Harbi@itu.int