Rappresentanza Permanente d’Italia presso la Conferenza del Disarmo Ginevra

Main Statements

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), also known as the Oslo Convention, prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of cluster munitions and requires the destruction of existing stockpiles. Adopted on 30 May 2008 during a Diplomatic Conference held in Dublin, the Convention marked the culmination of the Oslo Process, launched in February 2007 following the failure of negotiations within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) to address the issue.

The Convention entered into force on 1 August 2010 and currently counts 111 States Parties. It remains the principal multilateral instrument dedicated to eliminating cluster munitions and mitigating their humanitarian consequences. The major producers and users of cluster munitions—including Brazil, China, the Russian Federation, India, Pakistan, and the United States—are not among its States Parties.

Both in its negotiating process and in its substantive provisions, the Convention was largely inspired by the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Convention). Its provisions focus on five principal areas: clearance and risk education; victim assistance; stockpile destruction; international cooperation and assistance; and transparency measures. The main obligations incumbent upon States Parties include:

clearing contaminated areas and raising awareness among civilian populations living in affected areas;
providing assistance to victims of cluster munitions, including medical care, rehabilitation, psychological support, and measures to promote their social and economic reintegration;
destroying existing stockpiles no later than eight years after the Convention enters into force for the State Party concerned;
providing technical, material, or financial assistance to other States Parties;
submitting regular transparency reports containing information, inter alia, on national legislative and administrative measures adopted to implement the Convention, the quantity and types of stockpiled cluster munitions, victim assistance measures, and contaminated areas and their clearance.

Institutionally, the Convention provides for annual Meetings of the States Parties, intersessional meetings (held as required), and Review Conferences every five years.

The Second Review Conference, held under the Swiss Presidency in September 2021, represented an important milestone in reaffirming the core principles of the Convention.

Alongside the Lausanne Declaration, entitled Protecting Lives, Empowering Victims, Enabling Development, the Conference adopted the Lausanne Action Plan 2021–2026, setting out fifty actions accompanied by indicators to achieve significant and sustainable progress in the implementation of the Convention. These actions address the following broad objectives: universalization, stockpile destruction, survey and clearance, risk education, victim assistance, international cooperation, transparency, national implementation, and measures to ensure compliance with the Convention.

The Third Review Conference will be held in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, from 14 to 18 September 2026. The choice of venue carries considerable symbolic significance, as Laos—one of the countries most heavily affected by cluster munitions—hosted the First Meeting of the States Parties in 2010 following the Convention’s entry into force.

The Vientiane Review Conference will assess progress in implementing the Lausanne Action Plan and is expected to adopt the Vientiane Capital Action Plan 2027–2031, which will establish the Convention’s strategic priorities for the following five-year period in the areas of clearance, victim assistance, stockpile destruction, international cooperation, universalization, and national implementation. The Conference will also adopt a new Political Declaration reaffirming the commitment of States Parties to the Convention and to international humanitarian law.

Preparatory work for the Third Review Conference has highlighted several of the Convention’s current challenges, including advancing universalization, addressing the renewed use of cluster munitions in several armed conflicts, strengthening victim assistance and clearance efforts, and enhancing international cooperation and the long-term financial sustainability of the Convention.

Universalization remains one of the Convention’s foremost priorities. Among the most significant developments in recent years have been the accessions of Nigeria, South Sudan, and Vanuatu. At the same time, Lithuania’s withdrawal—the first in the Convention’s history—has reignited discussion on the need to preserve the strength and credibility of the Convention’s legal framework.

The Third Review Conference will represent a key opportunity to assess achievements made during the 2021–2026 period and to define the Convention’s strategic direction for the following five years. Through the adoption of the Vientiane Capital Action Plan 2027–2031 and a new Political Declaration, States Parties will reaffirm their commitment to the Convention’s universalization, the full implementation of its obligations, and the strengthening of the international stigma against cluster munitions.

With regard to the technical aspects of the Convention’s work, Italy played a significant role during the 2023–2025 period as Co-Coordinator on Clearance and Risk Education, initially alongside Norway and subsequently with France. In this capacity, Italy participated in 2024 in the assessment of Article 4 extension requests submitted by Chad, Germany, and Laos, which sought additional time to complete their clearance obligations and the destruction of cluster munition remnants in contaminated areas. In 2025, Italy performed the same role in relation to extension requests submitted by Afghanistan, Chile, Lebanon, Mauritania, and Somalia.

In its capacity as Co-Coordinator, Italy also submitted a working paper on Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) within the framework of the Convention. The paper highlighted the importance of integrating risk education into humanitarian mine action programmes and recommended the appointment of a dedicated coordinator as well as the organization of a dedicated EORE session during future Meetings of the States Parties. Italy also submitted a second working paper focusing on the integration of environmental considerations into humanitarian mine action programmes.

Italy’s Participation in the CCM

Italy participated from the outset in every stage of the Oslo Process and ratified the Convention in September 2011. It regards the CCM as a landmark instrument for enhancing international security, not only because of its contribution to disarmament but also because of its role in strengthening international humanitarian law. By requiring States Parties to identify and eliminate unexploded cluster munitions—which continue to pose a serious threat in post-conflict environments—the Convention also contributes to the protection of human rights and the promotion of sustainable development.

Among Italy’s principal priorities in implementing the Oslo Convention is its universalization, particularly the accession of the major producers and possessors of cluster munitions. Universal adherence to the Convention has become even more urgent in light of the alleged use of these weapons in a number of ongoing armed conflicts.

Italy also attaches the highest importance to international cooperation and assistance, which are essential to the full implementation of the Convention. Since 2001, Italy has allocated more than €110 million to programmes addressing landmines and explosive ordnance, including clearance operations, stockpile destruction, risk education, and victim assistance, supporting projects in numerous priority countries, including Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and Cambodia.

At the national level, Italy—which has never been a producer of cluster munitions—completed the destruction of all cluster munitions held by its Armed Forces in 2015.

Main Statements

Thirteen Meeting of the States Parties (Geneva, 16-19 September 2025):

Cons. Eugenio Poti