At 12.00pm local time (00.00 GMT) on August 1st, the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition (ANZCMC) kicked off the first* in a series of dozens of events to held around the world to celebrate entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  Wellington musician Sam Manzanza and his colleagues including Tom Scrase (The Thomas Oliver Band), and Navjeevan Singh led off a 40-minute drumming session that kids and adults joined in. The drumming session took place at Capital E in Civic Square, Wellington.

As the ANZCMC coordinator Mary Wareham explained, the drumming was intended to ‘make some noise’ about the fact that from today onwards, cluster bombs are a banned weapon. A total of 108 governments, including New Zealand, have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions and must now abide by its provisions prohibiting cluster bombs. Even states that have not joined the convention–such as Israel, Russia, and the US–will face widespread condemnation if they dare to use such a stigmatized weapon again. August 1st marks the beginning of the end for cluster bombs, a weapon that has taken too many limbs and lives.

After a hot chocolate break, the participants watched a new 20-minute film entitled Cluster Munitions: Banned in New Zealand. Directed by Mary Wareham, edited by James Meikle, and produced by Jamila Homayun, the film explains New Zealand’s leadership role in creating the Convention on Cluster Munitions. After another screening of the film at parliament on August 3rd, the film will be made available for viewing via the Internet.

At the event. the ANZCMC issued a new fact sheet on “The Convention on Cluster Munitions and New Zealand,” which is also available online. Following a NZPA wire article, several local media covered the event including the Dominion Post, 2ZB, and Radio Live.

Many member NGOs of the ANZCMC participated in today’s events, including from Amnesty International NZ, Pax Christi Aotearoa NZ, Peace Movement Aotearoa, UNANZ, UNICEF NZ, WILPF Aotearoa NZ, and newest member “African Pacific Voices NZ” formed by Par-Dieu Mayenikini, a former Congolese campaigner now based in Auckland, New Zealand.

The ANZCMC is grateful to everyone who participated in the August 1st event and to Celeste Donovan for her organisation of the drumming session.

* New Zealand tied for ‘first’ place with campaigners in Vientiane, Laos who started their August 1st celebrations at 7.00am local time (12.00 GMT).

For more information, see:

• Flyer for the film Cluster Bombs: Banned in New Zealand
• Press article by NZPA
• Fact Sheet by ANZCMC: ”The Convention on Cluster Munitions and New Zealand”
• Photos from the event (c) Ben Capp

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