(Auckland, 13 August 2008) Two leading disarmament campaigners from the Pacific are calling on governments and civil society throughout the region to throw their support behind the new Convention Banning Cluster Munitions.

Ema Tagicakibau from the Suva-based Pacific Concerns Resource Centre and Andonia Piau-Lynch from the national coordinator of the Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association Vanuatu issued their call at a public talk convened in Auckland tonight. The campaigners are in New Zealand for the annual Pacific Civil Society Forum meeting.

Their talk began with a candlelit commemoration to remember the victims of the 2006 cluster bombing of South Lebanon. Tagicakibau and Piau-Lynch lit a candle that was passed around the participants who observed a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the 2006 cluster bombing of South Lebanon. The group also thought about the current conflict in Georgia and hoped that cluster munitions are not used there.

Tagicakibau and Piau-Lynch have both played crucial roles in the Oslo Process, which in May 2008 resulted in the successful adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions by 107 states including their governments and four other Pacific states (Cook Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa). Both campaigners are urging all Pacific states to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions, when it is opened for signature in Oslo, Norway on 3 December 2008, as well as swift ratification.

Today, the ANZCMC released a new flyer for use in the campaign to persuade states to sign the Convention this December and ratify swiftly. As a general election if rapidly approaching, the flyer is not directed at a specific politician and can be used by any campaigner in any country to spread awareness and secure support.

* View ANZCMC Report on Pacific Campaign Activities
* Download Signature Campaign Flyer
* Read a one-page Overview of Pacific Support for the Cluster Munition Ban
* Pacific Event Flyer with information on Tagicakibau and Piau-Lynch
* View Photos of the Candlelit Vigil & Public Talk
* View Photos of the 2008 Pacific CSO Forum

Comments