Statement by the President of the Ninth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (9MSP),  H.E. Ambassador Aliyar Lebbe Abdul Azeez of Sri Lanka, on the 9th anniversary since entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Thursday, 1 August 2019 marks the ninth year since the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) entered into force. The past nine years since 1 August 2010 have undoubtedly seen significant progress in achieving the objectives of this humanitarian imperative-driven legal instrument.

During this period, 120 Sates have committed to the goals of the Convention, 106 as States Parties and 14 as signatories. Additionally, States Parties to the Convention have destroyed over 95% most of their cluster munition stockpiles, leaving only five States Parties with stockpile destruction obligations while hundreds of square kilometers of land have been cleared of cluster munition remnants and concerted efforts have helped improve the lives of victims. In this regard, States Parties should be proud of these achievements made within a short time and which establish it as one of the more successful disarmament treaties today.

Nonetheless, this enormous achievement must not be cause for complacency as cluster munitions continue to pose a significant threat to particularly civilians in certain parts of the world.

Therefore, in my capacity as President of the 9MSP, I wish to take this opportunity as we commemorate this important milestone to call on all States not yet Party to the Convention to ratify or accede to it without delay. I also urge States Parties to step up their universalization efforts to reach the CCM Dubrovnik Action Plan target of 130 States Parties by the Convention’s Second Review Conference scheduled for 2020, which is just over one year away. Achieving a world free of cluster munitions depends on the strengthening of its norms which are also universally accepted and implemented.

Download the statement in pdf.