The Dushanbe Workshop is the third in a series of regional meetings convened in the lead-up to the Mine Ban Treaty's Second Review Conference. Government representatives from Central Asian states, states that financially or technically support mine action, UN agencies, international organizations as well as civil society campaigners are expected to attend. The workshop will focus on clearance of mined areas, victim assistance, cooperation in the region, as well as challenges for joining the Mine Ban Treaty.
The new international convention banning cluster bombs is already delivering results as signatories plan the destruction of these indiscriminate weapons even before it has entered into force, said the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). On 25 and 26 June 2009, delegations from more than 80 countries will meet in the German capital to discuss plans for stockpile destruction. The event will allow experts to share knowledge and experience, and thus to provide signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions with guidance and broader information on the issue of cluster munitions’ destruction.
Hundreds of representatives of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, some states not party, international organizations, UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the ICBL will gather in Cartagena, Colombia from 30 November - 4 December 2009 to assess challenges in the universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, and to take stock of progress made since 2004.