Signing of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

December 2, 2008
Japanese

The Government of Japan made a cabinet decision to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, Minister for Foreign Affairs, will sign the Convention at a signing ceremony which will be held in Norway (Oslo) in the morning of December 3 (Wed), local time (Japan time: afternoon of the same day).
This Convention was adopted at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference hosted by the Government of Ireland in May 2008. It prohibits the use, development and production of cluster munitions, and stipulates the destruction of stockpiles of cluster munitions within 8 years in principle, assistance to the victims of cluster munitions, and the creation of a framework for international cooperation.
Taking humanitarian concerns arising from cluster munitions very seriously, Japan has contributed to the clearance of unexploded ordnance including cluster munitions in Lebanon, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and also to the process of drafting this Convention. This Convention plays an important role from the viewpoint of promoting international cooperation to respond to humanitarian concerns caused by cluster munitions.

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