DYB2011-Part-II-web

United Nations Disarmament Yearbook 2011: Part II
104
assistance and to provide such services as may be necessary to fulfil the tasks
entrusted to him by the Convention on Cluster Munitions”, while “bearing in
mind, in particular, the tasks entrusted to the Secretary-General pursuant to
the terms of the Convention”.
Against this background and pursuant to the relevant decision106 of
the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, which took place
in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, from 9 to 12 November
2010, the Second Meeting of States Parties was held in Beirut from 13 to
16 September. The Meeting was chaired by the Lebanese Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Emigrants, Adnan Mansour, and assisted by Najla Riachi Assaker
(Lebanon). Both officials were assisted by a group of Friends of the President
in charge of key thematic issues relevant to the implementation of the CCM. 107
Preparations of the Second Meeting of States Parties were facilitated
by: (a) an interim, informal intersessional meeting held in Geneva from 27
to 30 June, with a focus on substantive issues, including the general status
and operation of the CCM, victim assistance, clearance and destruction of
cluster munitions remnants and risk reduction education, stockpile destruction
including retention, universalization, transparency, national implementation
measures, and cooperation and assistance; and (b) a series of intensive
consultations by a group of the Friends of the President, the United Nations
Development Programme, UNODA, the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) and the Cluster Munition Coalition.
The Laotian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Thongloun Sisoulith, opened the Second Meeting of States Parties.
Representatives of 130 States, including 41 non-signatory States, and the
United Nations, the ICRC and other relevant organizations and institutions
attended the Meeting. It was preceded on 12 September by an opening
ceremony and field visits to the Regional Mine Action Center in Nabatiyeh,
Lebanon, and the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped.
Based on the interaction of like-minded States and organizations and the
active preparatory work, the Second Meeting of States Parties took important
decisions for the future of the CCM and its effective implementation. In
particular, it adopted an implementation architecture for the CCM, similar to
the one for the Mine Ban Convention, consisting of:
• Annual informal intersessional meetings of up to five days in the first
half of the year in Geneva;
• Six working groups on: (a) status and operation of the CCM; (b) victim
assistance; (c) universalization; (d) clearance; (e) stockpiles destruction;
and (f) cooperation and assistance—each chaired by two coordinators;
106 CCM/MSP/2010/5, para. 28.
107 Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan,
Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa and Zambia.