Nepal
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory Nepal has not taken any steps to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Nepal last participated in a meeting of the convention at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties held in Geneva in August–September 2022. Nepal abstained from voting on a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the convention in December 2022.
In 2019, Nepal stated that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and does not possess any stocks.
Policy
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Nepal has never elaborated its position on joining the convention.[1]
Nepal participated in two meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, in Vienna in December 2007 and in Wellington in February 2008. However, Nepal did not attend the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 or the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.
Nepal participated as an observer at the convention’s Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in August–September 2022, but did not make a statement. Nepal previously attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties held in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013.
In December 2022, Nepal abstained from voting on a key UNGA resolution that urged states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[2] Nepal has abstained from the vote on the annual UNGA resolution since it was first introduced in 2015, with the exception of 2017 when it voted in favor.
The Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL)—the national partner of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)—continues its outreach in support of the convention.[3] In April 2022, the NCBL urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]
Nepal is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Nepal stated in 2009 and 2010 that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and that it does not stockpile them.[5] In October 2019, a government official told the Monitor that Nepal does not possess cluster munitions.[6]
[1] In 2013, a government representative told the CMC that Nepal was interested in the convention, but had other priorities. CMC meeting with the delegation of Nepal, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, 23 October 2013. Previously, in 2009, the Minister of Peace and Reconstruction told the CMC that there were no issues preventing the government from acceding. Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL) and CMC interview with Rakam Chemjong, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, in Cartagena, 3 December 2009.
[2] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 77/79, 7 December 2022.
[3] In 2023, the NCBL translated and distributed the Cluster Munition Monitor 2022 report in Nepali and held several meetings with government stakeholders on accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. See NCBL Facebook page.
[4] Email from Purna Shova Chitrikar, Director, NCBL, 28 April 2022.
[5] Letter No. GE/2010/577 from Hari Pd. Odari, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, 21 June 2010; and NCBL and CMC interview with Rakam Chemjong, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, in Cartagena, 3 December 2009.
[6] Monitor interview at UNGA First Committee meetings with Surendra Thapa, Counsellor, Nepal Embassy, New York, 14 October 2019.