17 January 2014

The CMC focuses its 2014 efforts on continuing to get more countries on-board the lifesaving cluster bomb ban

The top priority for the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) this year is to work with all states which have not yet done so, to join and implement the lifesaving Convention on Cluster Munitions. Five years on from the signing of the convention, more than half the world’s nations are already on-board and thousands of lives are being saved. The challenge for 2014 is to continue this progress, working together towards a world free of cluster munitions.

In partnership with the President of the Convention Zambia, key partners – States, ICRC and the UN – and our global network of campaigners, the CMC will urge countries worldwide to join the treaty and stand strong against this indiscriminate weapon that causes unacceptable human suffering.

Following the United Kingdom’s impressive completion of stockpile destruction at the end of last year, the CMC looks forward to encouraging further progress on destruction of cluster munition stocks, ensuring these weapons are never used. In addition, the CMC will keep up pressure on states with limited progress on clearance throughout 2014, as well as raising awareness and advocating for means to implement Victim Assistance.

The CMC will continue to call on states worldwide to speak out against the recent horrific use of cluster munitions by Syrian armed forces, helping to strengthen the global stigma against this abhorrent weapon.

To find out more about the CMC’s plans for achieving a cluster munition free world, see the 2014 Campaign Action Plan.

The CMC delegation at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lusaka, Zambia