EIF_3Aug10On Tuesday, 3 August, New Zealand’s Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Hon. Georgina Te Heuheu hosted a reception at parliament to celebrate entry info force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Approximately 50 guests attended from parliament, government agencies, the diplomatic corps, the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), and the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition (ANZCMC). Countries represented at the event included both members of the convention (Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, South Africa) and states that have not yet joined such as Brazil, the United States, and Viet Nam.

The Minister welcomed everyone and gave a great statement outlining New Zealand’s involvement in the Oslo Process and its subsequent ratification of the Convention and enactment of legislation to enforce the Convention’s provisions domestically. ANZCMC coordinator Mary Wareham talked about the ANZCMC’s role in banning cluster bombs and the support it has received from the Peace and Disarmament Education Trust (PADET) as well as from DraftFCB.

The 20-minute film Cluster Munitions: Banned in New Zealand was then screened in the Beehive Theatre and Hon. Phil Goff, Leader of the Opposition, who was New Zealand’s Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control during the Oslo Process made some remarks.

Major John Flanagan (retd), former director of the UN Mine Action Service, came up from Blenheim to attend the event and see the film Cluster Munitions: Banned in New Zealand, which he features in together with Hon. Georgina Te Heuheu, Hon. Phil Goff, Ambassador Don MacKay and Mary Wareham.* Shown in the photo (L-R): George Hampton of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ANZCMC coordinator Mary Wareham, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control Hon. Georgina Te Heuheu, Major John Flanagan (retd).  Photo credit: Edwina Hughes

For more information:

  • Read statement by Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control Hon. Georgina Te Heuheu
  • Read statement by ANZCMC Coordinator Mary Wareham
  • View photos taken by Edwina Hughes and John Flanagan.
  • Find out more about the film Cluster Munitions: Banned in New Zealand

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