Sri Lanka assures commitment to Cluster Munitions Convention

Sri Lanka has assured its commitment to the Cluster Munitions Convention.

Addressing the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munition (CCM) yesterday, Ambassador A.L.A Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to working towards achieving universalization and to advancement of the objectives of the Convention.

The Meeting of States Parties welcomed Sri Lanka as the 103rd State Party, and looked forward to Sri Lanka’s leadership in humanitarian disarming.

Azeez said that?as a country that is proactively engaged in building peace and advancing reconciliation following the end of conflict in May 2009, Sri Lanka is pleased to share its experiences including progress made in implementation of national initiatives, as well as challenges faced and collective efforts taken to address them, that had led to the accession process making Sri Lanka a State Party to this important humanitarian disarmament framework.

“It is pertinent to highlight that during our internal engagement and consultation with all stakeholders including the civil society, it was realized that accession to the CCM was the natural and rational step that Sri Lanka could take, having acceded to the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. The latter culminated through a national process that was delicately undertaken, respecting the needs of civilians and the national security imperative,” he said.

Sri Lanka took the opportunity to acknowledge the excellent cooperation and technical support extended by the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), in taking forward the universalization efforts and follow-up action.

“We are confident that the active role and contribution of ISU would further strengthen as universalization efforts gather momentum in the 10th year of the adoption of the Convention,”?Azeez said.

On the aspect of ?international cooperation and assistance?, Sri Lanka believes that all requests for assistance need to be met in line with the humanitarian and sustainable development strategies and programmes of the recipient countries. (Colombo Gazette)