Soraj_Chile3New Zealand government and civil society representatives were in Chile last week for a major international meeting of governments that have banned cluster bombs.The three-day long Santiago International Conference on the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions opened on Monday, 7 June 2010 to the sound of Chilean drummers welcoming participants from 98 governments, including 13 non‐signatory states, and 120 campaigners from more than 50 countries.



The first day saw many governments provide updated on their efforts to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which a total of 106 states have signed and 36 have ratified to date. New Zealand mentioned its ratification in December 2010. Australia stated it support for universalisation of the Convention, but did not provide any update on the status of ongoing parliamentary measures to ratify. Fiji, the only Pacific island state to participate in the Chile Conference, did not speak even though it was the most recent signatory to ratify the Convention on 28 May 2010.



New Zealand expressed support for the actions planned by Japan as the Convention’s ad hoc universalisation contact to promote the Convention with non-signatories and also endorsed a proposal by Laos to appoint a special envoy to promote the Convention. New Zealand said that in March 2010, it had contacted all Pacific governments to encourage signature and ratification of the Convention. Currently, just five Pacific states have joined: Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Palau, and Samoa.



Much of the focus of the Chile conference was on preparations for the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which will be held in Vientiane, Lao PDR from 8-12 November 2010. Laos outlined how it has established a national committee to oversee preparations for this first formal meeting of the new Convention.Other items discussed in Chile included field activities to eradicate cluster munitions through clearance of contaminated areas, risk awareness, and victim assistance. The mechanics of the Convention’s transparency reporting requirements were also considered. New Zealand government representative Lucy Richardson gave a presentation on national implementation measures, using New Zealand domestic law the Cluster Munitions Prohibition Act of 2009  as an example.



After the government meeting ended, campaigners stayed on for a three-day skills and knowledge sharing forum. The ANZCMC coordinator helped to facilitate training on using new media tools such as Facebook and Twitter in advocacy, as well as a session on national legislation.For more information see:

Photo: Soraj Ghulam Habib and other cluster munition survivors talk to the Chilean foreign minister (c) Mary Wareham

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