Nobel Women's Initiative

A report from Jody Williams: Cluster Success in Norway

Oslo, 23 February 2007: Two days of meetings in Norway ended in great success, with expectations exceeded. Forty-six countries agreed to conclude a treaty to prohibit cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians by the end of 2008. A series of meetings to negotiate the treaty was agreed to including in Peru in May, Austria later in 2007 and Ireland in early 2008. Brussels has offered to host a regional meeting as has Costa Rica. During the meeting Austria also announced it has instituted a comprehensive moratorium on cluster munitions and Bosnia and Herzegovina said it will soon do the same. Some of the surprising states to sign on to the Declaration included the U.K., France, Germany and Italy -- all major stockpilers of cluster munitions and who have not been enthusiastic about the process. Other surprises were Egypt and Finland, neither of which has been supportive of the Mine Ban Treaty. The only states to distance themselves were Japan, Poland and Romania.

From Oslo, Norway

Jody Williams

Background

(23 February 2007 Oslo, Norway) Government delegates from 49 countries met this week at the Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions to discuss the development of an international process for a treaty rejecting the use of cluster munitions and dealing with the devastating effects of these weapons. At the end of the conference, 46 of the 49 states in attendance agreed to a declaration to conclude a treaty prohibiting clusters with unacceptable harm to civilians by 2008. This was the first meeting of this magnitude to take place concerning the campaign to eradicate the global use of cluster munitions.

Cluster munitions have killed and injured civilians for 40 years. Today the international community took a historic step today to put an end to that once and for all. The strong political will, common purpose and sense of urgency in the conference give us confidence that this new process will succeed in bringing about a meaningful new treaty in 2008, said Thomas Nash, Coordinator of the international Cluster Munition Coalition.

The Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), in partnership with Norwegian People's Aid, organized a civil society forum held parallel to the government meeting from Tuesday 20 to Friday 23 February 2007. Many leading international organizations attended including Human Rights Watch, Handicap International, International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Iraqi League of Doctors, Oxfam GB, Amnesty International and Greenpeace Spain.

Jody Williams, having returned from the UN high level mission on Darfur, was also in Oslo supporting our ICBL and CMC colleagues at this historic meeting. For more information on the Nobel Women's Initiative's support for the ban of cluster munitions click here.

Following is CMC's Press Release regarding the successful outcome of the conference:

CMC Press Release
23 February 2007

A historic process to develop, negotiate and conclude a new treaty prohibiting cluster munitions that have unacceptable consequences for civilians was launched at a successful conference hosted by the Norwegian Foreign Minister in Oslo at a meeting of 49 states, the Cluster Munition Coalition said today.

The group of states, meeting after the failure of arms talks in Geneva last year, agreed to a clear declaration committing them to conclude by 2008 a new instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Of the states meeting in Oslo, only Japan, Romania and Poland did not support the declaration.

Cluster munitions have killed and injured civilians for 40 years. Today the international community took a historic step today to put an end to that once and for all. The strong political will, common purpose and sense of urgency in the conference give us confidence that this new process will succeed in bringing about a meaningful new treaty in 2008, said Thomas Nash, Coordinator of the international Cluster Munition Coalition.

The states also agreed to a clear roadmap for the way forward with follow up meetings in this process in Lima in May or June, Vienna in November and Dublin in early 2008.

The group of 46 states to agree to the new process includes key users, producers and stockpilers of the weapon from all continents, including a number of countries affected by cluster munitions such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and Serbia.

Having 46 nations agree to this strong declaration shows how far we have come in so short a time towards a new treaty. The momentum has to continue and those states still outside this process need to get on board if they are serious about protecting civilians from the effects of armed conflict, said Steve Goose, Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

The presence of 100 participants from NGOs at a parallel civil society forum held in Oslo during the government meeting underlines the growing determination amongst civil society groups for a new treaty. This public campaign and partnership with governments mirrors the successful effort to ban landmines in the 1990s.

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