CMC Coordinator Thomas Nash addresses the plenary at the First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR, in November 2010. Photo credit: Stan Fradelizi / CMC
FIRST MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS
Date: 9-12 November 2010
Host: Government of Lao PDR and United Nations
Location: Vientiane, Lao PDR
Official website: http://www.clusterconvention.org/1msp/
The First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (1MSP) took place in Vientiane, Lao PDR from 9-12 November 2010. This was a defining moment in the life of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This meeting laid the foundation for future engagement on the Convention by bringing together for the first time States Parties to the treaty, UN agencies, international organisations, civil society, and cluster bomb survivors. States shared progress and plans for implementation, and drew up a blueprint to translate the treaty into action and meet the lifesaving obligations they have consented to be bound by.
Lao PDR is a highly appropriate venue for the Convention’s 1MSP. Lao PDR is the most heavily bombed country in the world, and the scale of devastation caused by cluster bombs is immense and shocking. Known locally as “bombies,” unexploded cluster submunitions are still commonplace in Lao PDR nearly four decades after armed conflict ended. Government surveys have recorded more than 50,000 civilian casualties caused by cluster bombs, landmines and other unexploded ordnance since 1964, and widespread contamination by explosive remnants of war hinders development. Holding such a meeting in an affected country helps to remind government officials and other participants why the treaty exists and why it must be implemented. The Convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties will take place in Lebanon, another heavily affected country, in September 2011.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
OUTCOME DOCUMENTS
Download the Vientiane Declaration and the Vientiane Action Plan here.
CMC STATEMENTS
Tuesday, 9 Nov. 2010
- Thoummy Silamphan CMC statement from Opening Ceremony - Tuesday 9 Nov. 2010
- Thomas Nash opening remarks in the plenary - Tuesday, 9 Nov. 2010
Wednesday, 10 Nov. 2010
- Steve Goose remarks in the plenary general discussion
- Laura Cheeseman intervention on universalisation
Thursday, 11 Nov. 2010
- Lee Moroney intervention on stockpile destruction and retention
- Eva Veble intervention on clearance
- Firoz Ali Alizada intervention on victim assistance
- Jackie Hansen intervention on transparency measures
- Boubine Toure intervention on national implementation measures
Friday, 12 Nov. 2010
- Tamar Gabelnick intervention on 2011 work programme
- Habbouba Aoun intervention on international cooperation and assistance
- María Pía Devoto intervention on compliance
- Thomas Nash CMC closing remarks - Friday, 12 Nov. 2010
- Survivors’ Declaration at the closing of the 1MSP
- Youth Declaration at the closing of the 1MSP
MEDIA
MEDIA COVERAGE
PRESS RELEASES
- Opening press release: Governments must deliver action plan on cluster bomb ban (Tuesday, 9 Nov. 2010)
- Closing press release: Cluster bombs: 66-point plan turns legal obligations into concrete actions (Friday, 12 Nov. 2010)
PHOTOS
Visit the CMC Flickr photostream to view photos from the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
DAILY UPDATES
Katherine Harrison of Action on Armed Violence and Allison Pytlak of Religions for Peace filed the following daily updates summarising the official proceedings at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions:
- 1MSP daily update - Tuesday 9 Nov. & Wednesday 10 Nov.
- 1MSP daily update - Thursday 11 Nov.
- 1MSP daily update - Friday 12 Nov.
SCHEDULE
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
SIDE EVENTS
During the course of the First Meeting of States Parties, civil society participants from around the world offered dozens of side events on their work and on humanitarian issues related to the cluster munition problem. Download the official side events programme here:
Official side events programme - 1MSP
1MSP “GET ON BOARD” LOGOS
Get on board: Ban Cluster bombs
Get on board: No more cluster bombs
Get on board: The Convention on Cluster Munitions
Get on board: www.stopclustermunitions.org
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
In Vientiane on 7 July 2010 there was a 1MSP launch event hosted by the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event aimed to raise the profile of the preparations towards the 1MSP and was attended by about 100 people including ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the UN and many NGOs, Lao university students, and Lao press.
Speech by Alexandra Hiniker 7 July 2010
CMC fact sheet, From Words to Action on Cluster Bombs - Questions and answers on the CCM in 2010
CMC policy papers on the First Meeting of States Parties and implementation of the CCM
GETTING READY FOR THE 1MSP
In the 10 weeks prior to the 1MSP, the CMC circulated weekly messages on different topics of the meeting and Lao PDR to prepare campaigners for the experience.