31 July 2015

Happy Anniversary!

Campaigners celebrate the successful adoption of the 2010 Vientiane Action Plan, which guided efforts to promote the Convention over the last five years. © Mary Wareham

1 August 2015 marks five years since the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force! CMC members in some 30 countries are holding public events and advocacy activities. With sixty percent of the world’s states on board the Convention, there are clear reasons to celebrate!

In the short amount of time since 2010, the Ban Community has clearly established that any use of cluster munitions by anyone is unacceptable. Increasingly, countries want to avoid being associated with these horrible weapons, and a large number of past users and producers have joined the Convention. The few that have been found using cluster munitions recently have often denied it vehemently -- a clear signal of the strong stigma associated with use.

Thanks to the Convention on Cluster Munitions:

• Eighteen states have stopped producing cluster munitions
• States have safely destroyed more than 1.16 million cluster munitions containing more than 140 million submunitions
• Contaminated land is being cleared and returned to communities for productive use
• A high standard has been set for assistance to survivors, their families and communities
• States are prohibiting financial investments in cluster munition producers

There is still a lot of work to be done, and States Parties will soon agree to an ambitious Dubrovnik Action Plan – a five-year roadmap towards ridding the world of cluster munitions.

At the CMC, we will continue to work closely with members of affected communities, survivors, clearance operators, experts and our members on all continents, advocating for all states to come on board the Convention and to fully respect all its provisions.

We will make sure that the actions of any cluster munition user are scrutinized and that the international community continues to strongly speak up against the weapon.

We are delighted to know that we can count on a large range of partners to take action!

Happy Anniversary!

On behalf of the CMC,

Amelie, Elea, Firoz, Jeff, Megan, Patrick and Zuzanna