The Oslo Process

In February 2007, 46 nations gathered in Oslo, Norway, and agreed to conclude by the end of 2008 a legally binding international instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. This process will produce a new instrument of international humanitarian law.

A second meeting of states took place in Lima, Peru in May 2007 with 27 additional nations joining the Oslo Process. Following 3 days of work at the Lima Conference, the shape of the new treaty emerged and there was clear momentum towards an outcome in 2008. There was broad agreement on the essential elements of a treaty and the need for articles on victim assistance, clearance, stockpile destruction, international cooperation and assistance, and transparency measures including deadlines for clearance and stockpile destruction.

Participants in the new process now cover the five world regions and include 19 producer states, 7 states that have used cluster munitions, 34 stockpilers, and representatives from 11 states affected by the weapons.

The next meeting of states in the Oslo Process will take place in Vienna, Austria in December 2007. Subsequent meetings have been scheduled for Wellington, New Zealand, from 18 - 22 February 2008 and Dublin in May/June 2008.

As of 21 August 2007, the 76 states participating in the Oslo process include:

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lao PDR, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, UK, Venezuela, Yemen and Zambia.

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