Publication

On 16 February 2010 Burkina Faso and the Republic of Moldova ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), thereby bringing the total number of ratifications to 30 and thus triggering the six-month count-down to entry into force. The Convention will enter into force on 1 August 2010, and the First Meeting of States Parties will be held in Lao PDR in November. At the time of writing, over 100 countries have already signed this humanitarian disarmament treaty, negotiated in May 2008. While encouraging additional states to ratify is critical to the ultimate success of the treaty, international attention will be shifting to the nuts and bolts issues of implementation of the Convention’s provisions.