Date: 18 - 19 September 2008
Host: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria in cooperation with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sofia and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Location: Radisson SAS Grand Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria
The Sofia Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions was the first of a series of regional meetings designed to increase awareness and promote the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). Eleven States from the region attended – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia (FRY), Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. Donor and core group state representatives from Austria, France, Ireland, Norway also participated, along with representatives from UNDP, UNMAS, ICRC, Bulgarian Red Cross, Council of the European Union, NAMSA, and CMC campaigners from 15 countries including 7 countries in the region. The Conference provided participants with a positive, informal atmosphere and succeeded in focusing governments’ attention on the importance and timely issue of preparing national policies to sign, ratify, and implement the CCM.
During the Conference, Albania, Bulgaria, and Croatia publicly announced that they will sign the CCM in Oslo in December and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia both made positive statements about their commitment to the Oslo Process. Other states confirmed privately that they will sign in Oslo. Greece, Romania and Turkey did not make any indication during the Conference that they would sign in Oslo.
CMC Conference Report - Sofia Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions
CMC Side Events:
18 September 2008, 9.00-14.00 - CMC Campaign Workshop
19 September 2008, 8.30-9.00 - CMC Morning Meeting
15.00-16.30 - CMC Debrief Workshop
Conference Documents:
Conference Agenda
List of Conference Participants
Convention On Cluster Munitions
CMC Briefing Paper on the Convention on Cluster Munitions
CMC Call to Governments
Fact Sheet - Cluster Munitions in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia
CMC Opening Statement, 18 September 2008
CMC Closing Summary of Session 1, 19 September 2008
Media