Guyana
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: State Party Guyana acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 31 October 2014 and the convention entered into force for Guyana on 1 April 2015. It is not known to have used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Guyana acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 31 October 2014 and became a state party on 1 April 2015.
The status of national implementation measures is not known. Guyana’s initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions is due by 27 September 2015.
Guyana did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention and has not participated in any meetings of the convention. However, government officials expressed interest in accession to the convention on several occasions.[1] At a meeting of CARICOM states convened during the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2014, a government representative from Guyana said that joining the ban on cluster munitions was “a moral responsibility that we all share.”[2]
Guyana deposited its instrument of accession on 31 October 2014, becoming the 115th country to join worldwide and ninth CARICOM member state to do so.
Guyana has not yet elaborated its views on several important issues relating to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions.
Guyana is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has not joined the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Guyana is not known to have used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
[1] In 2009, a government representative said that Guyana expected to join the convention in the future. The statement was made at an informal briefing convened by the United Kingdom (UK) to promote the convention with Commonwealth states. Meeting with Guy Pollard, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of the UK to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 20 October 2009. In 2010, an official said that Guyana recognized the importance of the convention but did not view accession as a priority. CMC meeting with Bibi Ally, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Guyana to the UN, New York, 19 October 2010.
[2] Remarks by Bibi Sheliza Ally, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Guyana to the UN in New York, October 2014. Notes by the CMC. See CMC, “Guyana accedes to the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” 1 November 2014.