Ten-Year Review: State Party Burkina Faso was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. Burkina Faso has indicated it intends to enact national implementing legislation for the convention. Burkina Faso has participated in several convention’s meetings, most recently in September 2019. It has voted in favor of an annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention since 2015.

In its initial transparency report for the convention provided in 2011, Burkina Faso indicated that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions. It possesses no stocks of cluster munitions and has not retained any for training or research purposes.

Policy

Burkina Faso signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 16 February 2010. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

Burkina Faso said in 2015 that it was drafting implementing legislation for the convention, but, as of July 2020, it has not introduced such legislation to parliament for consideration and approval.[1] Burkina Faso has expressed its desire to prepare implementing legislation and says that the National Commission to Combat the Proliferation of Small Arms (Commission Nationale de Lutte contre la Prolifération des Armes Légères) has facilitated consultations on implementation measures for the convention.[2]

Burkina Faso submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions in January 2011.[3] It provided an annual updated report in May 2013, but has not turned in any annual updates since then.

Burkina Faso participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[4]

Burkina Faso has participated in several Meetings of States Parties of the convention, most recently the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019.[5] It previously attended the First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015 and an intersessional meeting in Geneva in 2013. It has attended regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.

In December 2019, Burkina Faso voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[6] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Burkina Faso has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2019.[7]

In 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that Burkina Faso considers that the transit of cluster munitions by states not party through the territory of States Parties is prohibited.[8] Burkina Faso has not elaborated its views on other important issues for the convention’s interpretation or implementation, such as the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations with states not party, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling, and the prohibition on investment in cluster munition production.

Burkina Faso is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Burkina Faso has reported that it has no production facilities and does not possess stocks of cluster munitions, including for training or research purposes.[9] Burkina Faso has stated that it has never used cluster munitions.[10]