The Convention on Cluster Munitions, CCM, prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of Cluster Munitions. Separate articles in the Convention concern assistance to victims, clearance of contaminated areas and destruction of stockpiles. The Convention is a result of Oslo-process, an open and time bound diplomatic process that included States, the Cluster Munitions Coalition, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations. The process was launched when 46 states agreed to the February 2007 Oslo Declaration.
Chairmen's table
Indonesia has been among Norway’s key partners in this process and the Indonesian Minister of Defense came to the signing in Oslo. Regional promotion and implementation is of outmost importance to the process and the Bali Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions concluded Tuesday 17th November 2009. 21 governments attended the Conference along with a number of NGOs and had a high level of attendance of non-signatory states (9). The two day meeting was an exceptional regional conference, with very positive engagement from state participants in tandem with strong advocacy work by campaigners from the region, including survivors, supported by the Ban Advocates initiative.
This Conference was significant as while the Southeast Asian region is the most heavily affected by cluster munitions, only 12 of the 40 countries have signed the CCM. On the civil society side, over 35 campaigners attended, many of whom made excellent contributions and participated for the first time in the Oslo Process. The success of the Conference was evident in the level of engagement and dialogue between States.
Norway, together with representatives from Austria and New Zealand explained the key obligations of the Convention and set a positive tone for the Conference in stating the importance they placed on the comprehensive ban and the norm it establishes as well as Article 6 and the mechanism for cooperation and assistance under the CCM. Norway will continue to work for increased ratification of the Convention in this region.
For more information on the CCM and CMC – see
http://www.clusterconvention.org/