Norway
Conference on Disarmament
18 February 2010
Unofficial Transcript

Thank you, Mr. President. As this is the first time that we also take the floor during your presidency, let me assure you of my delegation’s full support and cooperation as well. Mr. President, I am taking the floor today on the occasion of the 30th ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions as Burkina Faso and Moldova submitted their ratification on 16th of February. This means that the convention enters into force on 1st August 2010 and keeping with the provisions of the convention and prepares the ground for the first meeting of state’s parties to take place in Laos PDR by the end of this year. We hope that the Oslo process, which resulted in the entry into force of the CCM just two years after its adoption, may inspire the Conference on Disarmament to look for new ways to achieve the progress so urgently needed. As you all know, the Convention on Cluster Munitions is the result of an open, diplomatic process that included states, more than 300 humanitarian and human rights organizations in the Cluster Munitions Coalition, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN itself. The process was launched when a group of states agreed to the February 2007 Oslo declaration committing themselves to, and I quote: “Conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that prohibits the use and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians and secure adequate provisions of care and rehabilitation to survivors and clearance of contaminated areas.

Mr. President, the process of negotiating this new international disarmament treaty outside of established bodies provides reasons for serious concern with regard to the way we have conducted our business here in the CD but also grounds for inspiration. It proves that with sufficient political will it is possible to find ways to make progress. It proves that we do not need to be held hostage by those who want the least. Norway recognizes that there are some crucial differences between the nuclear disarmament agenda and the agenda that lead to the ban of landmines and cluster munitions, but there are also similarities. Disarmament is a tool to enhance international, national and human security for states and for people independent of the agendas or bodies in which we decide to interact. We believe that there are valuable lessons to be learned from the Oslo process and the Ottawa process that are relevant to also our deliberations here in the CD. We learned how powerful alliances can be created when states from new and cross-regional partnerships and when governments and civil society work together. We are aware that many countries maintain that consensus is vital when it comes to nuclear disarmament. Norway is not fully convinced. We believe it could be possible to develop norms against the use of nuclear weapons and even to outlaw them without a consensus decision and that such norms will eventually be applied globally.

In addition to its security and humanitarian aspects, disarmament is closely linked to development. We cannot leave it to the nuclear states alone to decide when it is time for them to do away with these weapons. The destructive power of these weapons would affect us all if put to use and their threat would continue to affect us all. Therefore, nuclear disarmament is everybody’s business. Furthermore, many traditional negotiating bodies, as the Conference on Disarmament, are failing to include relevant stakeholders such as civil society representatives, thus cheating ourselves from their experience and knowledge. Unless all stakeholders, including states, the UN and civil society take part in disarmament processes we risk that future negotiations are in danger of being irrelevant to the concerns and needs of people.

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