First anniversary of entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
1 August 2011
“Join the team”
Anniversary of entry into force
On 1 August 2011 the Cluster Munition Coalition will mark the one year anniversary of the Convention on Cluster Munition’s entry into force with campaign actions worldwide. Entry into force was a major milestone for the Convention as it was the day that the ban took effect, its obligations became fully and legally binding and the clock started ticking for States Parties to meet their obligations.
The first anniversary of entry into force presents another opportunity to celebrate the Convention on Cluster Munitions as a legally binding treaty. We will call on governments to “join the team” by acceding to and ratifying the Convention and starting to implement the treaty as soon as possible. We will remind States Parties of their obligations under the Convention and the 5 year Vientiane Action Plan to destroy stockpiles, clear cluster munition contaminated areas and assist affected communities and cluster munition survivors so that they can be fully included in society and enjoy their fundamental human rights.
Global Day of Action – sports theme
The 2011 theme to mark 1 year since the Convention entered into force will be sports. This theme choice was inspired by successful events such as the wheelchair basketball event held at the COPE reception during the 1MSP in Lao PDR and the “Rumble in Cartagena” wheelchair rugby match which won the Sports Event for Peace Award 2010. These sporting events have been a key opportunity to highlight the rights of people with disabilities and the victim assistance provisions of the CCM. Following the success of our “beat the drum to ban cluster bombs” worldwide entry into force celebrations, we look forward to another impressive global day of action this year.
Take Action!
1) Organise an action with a sports theme
We encourage you to organise an action with a sports theme or participate in sporting events including sports events for people with disabilities in your country on 1 August 2011. This will be a key opportunity to celebrate the first anniversary of entry into force and to make specific advocacy demands on governments to join and implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Through these events, CMC will seize the opportunity to secure media coverage raising awareness of the anniversary of entry into force, the Convention and the problems caused by cluster bombs. This will also be an excellent time to encourage countries to participate in the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) in Beirut, Lebanon from 12-16 September 2011.
2) Engage sports celebrities in your country to speak out about cluster munitions
In addition to planning sporting events, you can also ask national and local sports celebrities to endorse the campaign by sending a message of support, or recording a video message, posting a message of support on their Facebook site, or tweeting a message of support. We hope to hear from a range of sports stars including those from affected countries and countries that have not yet joined the Convention as well as sports stars with disabilities. We hope to make a video of sports celebrities with messages can be made into a video campaigning tool. A draft letter will be made available that you can adapt to reach out to sports celebrities in your country in the lead up to 1 August 2011.
Campaign Resources
We will use the www.august1.org website to share information and materials for the Global Day of Action on 1 August 2011.
Campaign materials will be made available at http://www.august1.org/take-action and will include:
- A new campaign logo (launched at the end of June 2011)
- Template letter to engage sports personalities
- 1 August 2011 Action Alert
Tell us about your actions
Please contact Kimberly Brown (Kimberly@icblcmc.org) to share information on your campaigning plans for 1 August 2011 that will be shared on the www.august1.org website.