ITF Attended the Seventh Meeting of States Parties to CCM

It was a conference busy week at ITF. In addition to attending Bled Strategic Forum in Bled, Slovenia, we travelled to Geneva, Switzerland for the Seventh Meeting of States Parties (7MSP) to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which took place between 4 and 6 September 2017.

CCM addresses the dangers of cluster munitions and prohibits all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of these weapons. MSP is an annual meeting of State Parties to the Convention and serves as a platform, where progress and further improvements are discussed and where support and assistance to the countries tackling cluster munition issues can be provided. Cluster munitions are a direct threat to security of the civilian population since they cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants and can remain in the ground long after the conflict is over. It not only becomes an unexploded ordnance but can also have severe consequences for the environment.

In Geneva this year, four countries announced their intention to ratify CCM in the near future (Philippines, Haiti, Liberia and Gambia), while Sri Lanka and South Sudan declared their intention of shortly acceding to the Convention. Great news also came from Mozambique, who informed the parties of successfully fulfilling their obligations under CCM before the set deadline.

We wish them all the best and remain hopeful that together we can remove the effects of cluster munitions.