CCW GROUP OF GOVERNMENTAL EXPERTS TO CONTINUE TO NEGOTIATE ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS AND PREPARE FOR FOURTH REVIEW CONFERENCE

The Second 2011 Session of the Group of Governmental Experts of the States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), mandated to continue negotiations to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, as well as to conduct preparatory work for the CCW Fourth Review Conference, will commence on Monday, 28 March at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Minister Jesus S. Domingo of the Philippines will preside over the week-long meeting, the second of three sessions ahead of the Fourth Review Conference to take place from 14 to 25 November 2011. The Group will continue its negotiations on cluster munitions based on a revised Chair’s Paper which takes into consideration the deliberations during the Group’s first session last February. The Group aims to produce a recommendation for consideration by the Fourth Review Conference to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations. The Chairperson will be assisted by his Friends of the Chair: Mr. Philip Kimpton of Australia, Ms. Anesa Kundurovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lt. Col. Jim Burke of Ireland.

In accordance with the decisions taken by the 2010 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the CCW, the Group will also devote time for the consideration of the preparation for the Fourth Review Conference under the overall responsibility of the President designate, Ambassador Gancho Ganev of Bulgaria. At the first session the Group had decided to recommend for adoption by the Fourth Review Conference the provisional agenda and the draft rules of procedure of the review conference. The Group also discussed organizational issues as well as the issue on universalization. At the second session, the President designate will continue to guide the Group of Governmental Experts in preparing for the review conference building on what has been achieved thus far.

The humanitarian impact of cluster munitions has been discussed within the CCW since 2001, first - under a broader theme of explosive remnants of war, and since 2007 – as the main item of the agenda of the Group of Governmental Experts. Although the Group has invested much effort during the last four years in drafting a new protocol on prohibitions and restrictions on the use of cluster munitions, there still exist divergent views on the content. Amidst such controversy, the States Parties eventually reached consensus to renew for another year the mandate of the Group at the 2010 Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the CCW in November 2010.

For more information pertaining to the CCW, please refer to its official website: http://www.unog.ch/ccw , or contact:

Mr. Bantan Nugroho

Head of the CCW Implementation Support Unit

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, Geneva Branch

Office C.115, Palais des Nations,

United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland

E-mail: ccw@unog.ch

For use of the information media; not an official record

DC11/024E