Nepal
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory Nepal has not taken any steps to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but officials have expressed support for that objective in their meetings with national campaigners. Nepal changed its position to vote in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2017, after abstaining on previous UN resolutions on convention in 2016 and 2015. It participated in a meeting of the convention once, in 2013.
Nepal states that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and possesses no stockpiles.
Policy
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Nepal has never made a public statement elaborating its position on accession to the convention.[1] During 2017 and the first half of 2018, government representatives continued to regularly meet with national campaigners, who raised the need for Nepal to review its policy on the convention and take steps to accede without delay.[2]
Nepal participated in two meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, in Vienna in December 2007 and Wellington in February 2008, but it did not attend the Dublin negotiations in May 2008.
Nepal participated as an observer in the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, but did not make a statement. This was Nepal’s first and to date only participation in a meeting of the convention.
In December 2017, Nepal voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[3] Nepal did not explain why it changed its position after abstaining from voting on the previous UNGA resolutions promoting implementation of the convention in 2016 and 2015.
The Cluster Munition Coalition’s (CMC) national partner the Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL) continues its outreach in support of the convention.[4]
Nepal is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Nor is it party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Nepal has stated that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and does not possess any stocks.[5]
[1] In 2013, a government representative informed the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that Nepal is interested in the convention, but has other priorities. CMC meeting with the delegation of Nepal, UN First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, 23 October 2013. Previously, in 2009, the Minister of Peace and Reconstruction told the CMC that there are no issues preventing the government from acceding to the convention. Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL) and CMC interview with Rakam Chemjong, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, in Cartagena, 3 December 2009.
[2] On 13 July 2017, Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara met with representatives of the NCBL, who called on the government to approve accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Email from Purna Shova Chitrakar, Coordinator, NCBL, 13 July 2017.
[3] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017.
[4] In February 2017, on the 10thanniversary of the start of the Oslo Process, the NCBL wrote to the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, and peace and reconstruction, and the speaker of the house of representatives to encourage Nepal’s accession to the convention as soon as possible. Email from Purna Shova Chitrakar, NCBL, 14 June 2017.
[5] Letter No. GE/2010/577 from Hari Pd. Odari, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN in Geneva, 21 June 2010; and NCBL and CMC interview with Rakam Chemjong, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, in Cartagena, 3 December 2009.