Vanuatu
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory Vanuatu adopted the convention in 2008 and its executive Council of Ministers considered the country’s accession in 2012, but the accession process does not appear to have proceeded. Vanuatu has not participated in any meetings of the convention, but voted in favor of a UN resolution on the convention in December 2015. Vanuatu has stated that it does not use, produce, stockpile, or transfer cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Vanuatu has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Government officials have expressed support for the convention’s objectives, but the accession process does not appear to have proceeded since October 2012, when a government official said the Council of Ministers was considering the matter of accession.[1] In 2011, the director-general of Vanuatu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that the Council was considering a policy paper on the convention.[2] In July 2011, a government representative said that relevant authorities were holding stakeholder consultations on the matter of accession.[3]
On 7 December 2015, Vanuatu voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[4] A total of 140 states, including many non-signatories, adopted the non-binding resolution.
Vanuatu joined the Oslo Process in February 2008 and endorsed the Wellington Declaration in support of an instrument prohibiting cluster munitions. It joined in the consensus adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Dublin in May 2008, but did not attend the Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.
Vanuatu has not participated in any meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Vanuatu has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[5]
Vanuatu is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Vanuatu has stated that it “does not use, produce, stockpile or transfer cluster munitions.”[6]
[1] CMC meeting with Jenny Tevi, Senior Desk Officer, Treaties and Conventions Divisions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Koror, Palau, 26 October 2012.
[2] Letter from Jean Sese, Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Mary Wareham, Senior Advisor, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 6 April 2011.
[3] Interview with Roline Tekon, Director, Treaties and Conventions Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in New York, 14 July 2011.
[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[5] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 69/189, 18 December 2014. Vanuatu voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013, on 15 May and 18 December.
[6] Letter from Jean Sese, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Mary Wareham, HRW, 6 April 2011.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Vanuatu signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 16 September 2005, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2006. It has never used, produced, exported, or imported antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. It has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. Vanuatu submitted its second Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 30 April 2008 but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Vanuatu did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
Vanuatu is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Vanuatu is affected by unexploded ordnance from World War II.