Dublin Day 6 - Interacting on Interoperability
27th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations
(Dublin: 26 May 08) Two interesting side events took place during the lunchbreak at the Dublin Conference today. Read more
Dublin W/End - Ireland vs Serbia
25th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations
All participants to the Dublin conference were offered free tickets to see the Ireland vs Serbia football match at Croke Park this Saturday. Read more
Dublin Day 5 - The elephant not in the room
25th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations
On Friday, campaigners decided to draw more attention to the United States, described by the newsletter as an “elephant not in the room” at these negotiations to create the cluster bomb ban treaty. I headed over to the US embassy in Dublin around midday with a small, but vocal group including several “US citizens against US cluster bomb policy.” The Iraqi cluster bomb survivors also came, including Ahmed Najem who lost his arm. Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams did a bunch of media on the United States with articles in the Boston Globe and Reuters.
Dublin Day 4 - The Big Fight?
23rd May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations
(Dublin: 22 May 2008) Outside the entrance to the main plenary room I’ve noticed a sign telling the story of “The Big Fight,” a boxing match between then-heavy weight champion Muhammed Ali and Al “Blue” Lewis that took place in 1972 at Croke Park, the venue for our Dublin conference on cluster bombs. While we made some progress on victim assistance today, deliberations were tense and difficult on other parts of the ban treaty text and it appears we are indeed headed into our very own “Big Fight.” Read more
Dublin Day 3 - UK, US, Norway news
22nd May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations
(Dublin: 21 May 2008) The formal talks appeared to be progressing well on the third day of the Dublin Conference. The campaigners present in Dublin, especially from Africa and the Americas, are making significant progress through a concerted lobby effort, but the outcome of the conference is still unknown. Read more
Dublin Day 2 - Down to the Nitty Gritty
21st May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations
Immediately after the opening plenary concluded yesterday, the President of the Conference, Irish Ambassador Daithi O’Ceallaigh, got down to business. The Rules of Procedure were adopted with no objections (very good news). Then the diplomats remained in the plenary hall for the “Committee of the Whole” in which the draft treaty text was read article by article. Any government could intervene during this reading and, if the President felt there was no consensus on a particular issue, he appointed a Friend of the Chair to search for agreement by convening informal consultations or bilateral meetings on the subject. Read more