Dublin 10 - Treaty Adopted!

31st May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations

(Dublin, Ireland: 30 May 08) This morning a total of 112 states adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This seems to be the name for our new treaty prohibiting the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster bombs. Read more

Dublin Day 9 - Downtime Action Planning

30th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations

Yep, that’s what we did today: slept in, wrote press releases, had a pep rally with Core Group ambassadors Alex Marshik (Austria), Don MacKay (New Zealand), and Steffen Kongsted (Norway) then adopted the CMC Action Plan for Rapid Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions that I drafted in consultation with nearly every campaiggner here in Dublin. Thanks for the great conversations! Check out the photos! - Mary Wareham, Oxfam NZ

Oxfam NZ Press Release

29th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations

Treaty Breakthrough in Dublin: Cluster Bomb Ban Agreed

(Dublin, Ireland) After nearly two weeks of intense talks in Dublin, negotiating states informally agreed late Wednesday to ban cluster munitions. Governments will formally adopt the Cluster Munition Convention on Friday, May 30 2008, and it will be opened for signature on December 2 2008. Read more

Dublin Day 8 - Delivering the Deal

29th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations

(Dublin: 28 May 08) Today, on Wednesday afternoon, the President of the Dublin Conference, Irish Ambassador Daithi O’Ceallaigh presented his treaty text to the states in the Committee of the Whole for their consideration. The text is mostly strong, especially on the definition of a cluster munitions, but Article 21 contains a serious loophole on “interoperability.” Read more

Dublin Day 7 - The Show Must Go On…

28th May 2008 | Filed Under Coalition Actions, Dublin Negotiations

This Friday night, Québécois pop star Céline Dion is holding a concert at our diplomatic negotiations venue, the massive Croke Park football stadium. Every time I walk down the corridors I see the stage being erected and her tune for the Titanic film comes into my head. We have to be out of here by midday on Friday meaning the treaty must be concluded by tomorrow at the latest, before it is translated and adopted. There are still a lot of issues to be resolved, however, and I really hope this ship doesn’t sink before it it reaches its destination. Read more