State Parties to UN-backed treaty agree to aim for clearance of cluster bombs by 2030

An annual meeting of State Parties to the United Nations-backed pact banning cluster bombs ended today in Geneva, with an agreement on a target to complete by 2030 clearance of these explosive remnants of war that kill large numbers of civilians.

“I am very pleased that we have agreed on 2030 as a target date for completion,” said Henk Cor van der Kwast of the Netherlands, the President of the Sixth Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, in a news release.

Cluster munitions, or unexploded ordnance, kill and injure large numbers of civilians and cause long lasting socio-economic problems. The Convention, which prohibits all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of these devices, entered into force on 1 August 2010, just two years after it opened for signature in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. To date, 119 states have joined the Convention.

At the First Review Conference of the Convention held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in September 2015, the State Parties adopted the Dubrovnik Action Plan, which lists concrete steps to implement the Convention in the period from 2015 to 2020.

The Plan seeks to increase adherence to the treaty, assist State Parties to develop resourced plans for destroying stocks, clearing contaminated lands, providing risk-reduction education and strengthening national capacity for victim assistance, among other core work.

Ridding the world of heinous cluster munitions is a moral and humanitarian imperative

This year's conference covered a range of topics, including universal adoption of the treaty, destruction of stockpiles, clearing contaminated areas, transparency measures, victim assistance and international cooperation.

The conference's president reiterated the need to end the use of cluster munitions in conflicts. “No State should use these indiscriminate weapons. We call upon States not party using this banned weapon, to cease further use and abide by the provisions set by this Convention,” Mr. van der Kwast said.

In a message sent to the opening of the conference, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that the UN will continue to support all efforts aimed at the universalization of the Convention. His message was read by Mary Soliman, Acting Director of the Geneva Branch of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

“With the adoption of the Dubrovnik Action Plan, States parties have set an ambitious path of concrete actions and specific deadlines for the Convention's further implementation by the Second Review Conference in 2020,” he said.

Actions are to be undertaken, he added, in the crucial areas of universalization, stockpile destruction, clearance and risk reduction education, victim assistance, international cooperation and assistance, transparency and national implementation measures.

“Our shared hope is to achieve the destruction of additional stockpiled cluster munitions, the release of previously contaminated land for productive use and, ultimately, a reduction in the number of new victims,” Mr. Ban said. “Ridding the world of heinous cluster munitions is a moral and humanitarian imperative.”