Djibouti

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 13 September 2021

Summary

Djibouti signed the convention in July 2010, but still has not ratified despite pledging to do so. Djibouti last participated in a meeting of the convention in 2012. It voted in favor of a key annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2020.

Djibouti states that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of Djibouti signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 July 2010.

Various government officials have expressed Djibouti’s intent to ratify the convention, but no steps have been taken to complete ratification.[1]

Djibouti participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention. It did not attend the Oslo signing conference in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York in July 2010 after making several positive statements in support of the convention.[2]

Djibouti has participated in meetings of the convention in 2010–2012, but not since then.[3] It was invited to, but did not attend the first part of the convention’s Second Review Conference held virtually in November 2020.

Djibouti voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution in December 2020 that urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[4] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Djibouti has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2020.[5]

Djibouti is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Djibouti has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[6]



[1] In 2017, a representative from Djibouti confirmed the government’s desire to ratify, but did not provide any further information. Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) meeting with Houmed-Gaba Maki, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Djibouti to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 25 April 2017. Notes by the CMC. Previously, in 2012, Djibouti said that ratification of the convention was underway, but provided no further details. Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012.

[2] For more information on Djibouti’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through mid-2010, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 143–144.

[3] Djibouti participated in the convention’s meetings of States Parties in 2010–2012 and an intersessional meeting in 2011. It has participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in August 2016. See, “The Addis Ababa Commitment on Universalization and Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” African Regional Workshop of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Addis Ababa, 5 August 2016.

[4]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions”, UNGA Resolution 75/62, 7 December 2020.

[5]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 75/193, 16 December 2020. Djibouti voted in favor of similar resolutions from 2013–2019.

[6] Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012; interview with Amb. Mohamed Siad Douale, Permanent Mission of Djibouti to the UN in Geneva, 13 April 2010; and statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.