Take Action
The Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition is calling on all governments to ban cluster bombs. The New Zealand government signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2008, but not yet ratified this agreement which prohibits cluster bombs and requires their clearance and assistance to victims.
* Ratify the Ban!
Please write to our Minister for Disarmament & Arms Control, Hon Georgina te Heuheu, to thank New Zealand for signing the Convention and urge parliament’s swift ratification of this agreement.
* Sign the Convention!
A total of 98 governments have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Many more still need to sign, however, including Marshall Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu. Contact these countries and other non-signatories to urge their signature of the new treaty banning cluster bombs. Download and distribute our flyer.
* Support the Campaign
Please sign-up to our website to receive regular updates on the coalition’s work. If you are not in New Zealand check out the global campaign’s website to find out what is happening in your country. Sign the People’s Treaty to ban cluster munitions.
CHRONOLOGY OF CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES
Public support has been critical in our campaign’s achievements including the highly successful Wellington Conference and the Super Fund’s decision to divest from companies that produce cluster munitions. Our campaign actions and successes are listed below and a Chronology document can also be downloaded.
2009
Jul. 28: First reading of the Cluster Munitions Prohibition Bill by the NZ parliament
Jul. 21: The Cluster Munitions Prohibition Bill is introduced in the NZ parliament
Jun. 21: ANZCMC writes to FADT Select Committee members on ratification
Jun. 18: 12th ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
May 29: ANZCMC issues press release on global week of action & new HRW report
Apr. 24: ANZCMC writes to Murry McCully on Afghanistan
Mar. 7: ANZCMC launches new YouTube video on Dublin negotiation
Feb. 9: 11th ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
2008
Dec 3: New Zealand signs the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo, Norway together with 93 other governments.
Oct. 27-31: Ban Cluster Bomb Adshel posters by DraftFCB are displayed in 50 locations around Auckland and Wellington as part of a global week of action against cluster munitions. ANZCMC issues action alerts to encourage ban support by Brazil, Malaysia, Poland, Thailand and Vietnam.
Oct. 7: Tenth ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington.
Sep. 3: ANZCMC protests Georgia’s use of cluster bombs in South Ossetia
Aug. 15: ANZCMC protests Russia’s use of cluster bombs in South Ossetia
Aug. 13: Pax Christi and ANZCMC members hold a vigil in Auckland to remember cluster bomb victims from Lebanon and elsewhere.
Aug. 11-14: ANZCMC builds support for the cluster bomb ban with NGO representatives attending the Pacific Regional Civil Society Organization Forum in Auckland.
Jul. 21: Ninth ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington.
May 30: The Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted in Dublin, Ireland by 107 states including New Zealand. New Zealand’s Ambassador Don MacKay and ANZCMC Coordinator Mary Wareham played important roles in ensuring the creation of this new agreement.
Apr. 28: Eighth ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
Apr. 19: In support the second Global Day of Action, ANZCMC members hold a demo urging the Super Fund to divest now, a statement by 86 faith representatives is published in the Sunday Star Times. A new film by the ANZCMC’s award-winning agency DraftFCB is released on the campaign’s YouTube site.
Apr. 4: The Board of Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund announces that it will divest from companies that manufacture cluster munitions after the ban treaty is opened for signature at the end of 2008.
Mar. 10: Seventh ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
Feb 22: A total of 82 governments endorse the Wellington Declaration committing them to negotiate a cluster bomb treaty in Dublin, Ireland in May 2008.
Feb. 20: More than 1,000 people participate in a chalk ‘lie-down’ petition-gathering event in Civic Square, Wellington to express their support for the cluster bomb ban. That night at Parliament, a delegation of cluster bomb survivors hands over a total of 3,367 petitions to the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control Hon. Phil Goff.
Feb 18: The week-long Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions opens at the Town Hall. The ANZCMC hosts the international civil society delegation, comprised of 147 campaigners from 43 countries.
Jan. 18: Sixth ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
Jan: A group of Australian NGOs unite to form the Cluster Munition Coalition Australia.
Jan. 18: Fifth ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
2007
Dec. 17: Fourth ANZCMC campaign meeting held in Wellington
Dec. 7: At the conclusion of the Vienna Conference, ANZCMC member Oxfam NZ issues a press release urging New Zealand to do its best in hosting the next global meeting of the Oslo Process in February 2008.
Nov. 28: The New Zealand Herald runs a multiple page “find the cluster bomb” advertisement prepared by communications agency DraftFCB on behalf of the ANZCMC.
Nov. 8: Australian photographer John Rodsted completes a speaking tour after talking to audiences in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland about his experience documenting civilian casualties to cluster bombs.
Nov. 5: On the first global day of action against cluster bombs, the ANZCMC launches its public campaign with a stunt over Wellington involving an airplane drop of thousands of cluster bomb shaped petition flyers.
Sep. 27: Third ANZCMC campaign meeting is held in Wellington
Jul. 27: Second ANZCMC campaign meeting is held in Wellington
Mar 22: New Zealand NGOs meet and agree to form the Aotearoa NZ Cluster Munition Coalition (ANZCMC) appointing Mary Wareham of Oxfam NZ as their coordinator.