Nepal
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
Non-signatory Nepal has not taken any steps to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated as an observer at one meeting of the convention, in 2013. Nepal abstained from voting on a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.
In October 2019, Nepal stated that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and does not stockpile them.
Policy
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Nepal has never elaborated its position on joining the convention.[1]
Nepal participated in two meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, in Vienna in December 2007 and in Wellington in February 2008. However, Nepal did not attend the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 or the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.
Nepal participated as an observer at the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. This remains its first and, to date, only participation in a meeting of the convention. Nepal was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021.
In December 2021, Nepal abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urged states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[2] Nepal has abstained from the vote on the annual UNGA resolution since 2015, with the exception of 2017 when it voted in favor.
The Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL)—the national partner of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)—continues its outreach in support of the convention.[3] In April 2022, the NCBL urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]
Nepal is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Nepal stated in 2009 and 2010 that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and that it does not stockpile them.[5] In October 2019, a government official told the Monitor that Nepal does not possess cluster munitions. [6]
[1] In 2013, a government representative told the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that Nepal was interested in the convention, but had other priorities. CMC meeting with the delegation of Nepal, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, 23 October 2013. Previously, in 2009, the Minister of Peace and Reconstruction told the CMC that there were no issues preventing the government from acceding. Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL) and CMC interview with Rakam Chemjong, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, in Cartagena, 3 December 2009.
[2] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021.
[3] On 28 November 2018, the NCBL participated in a panel discussion on the Convention on Cluster Munitions together with the Nepali Army, police, and government ministries. See, NCBL, “A discussion program on Sustainable Peace,” 22 November 2018.
[4] Email from Purna Shova Chitrikar, Director, NCBL, 28 April 2022.
[5] Letter No. GE/2010/577 from Hari Pd. Odari, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN in Geneva, 21 June 2010; and NCBL and CMC interview with Rakam Chemjong, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, in Cartagena, 3 December 2009.
[6] Monitor interview at UNGA First Committee meetings with Surendra Thapa, Counsellor, Nepal Embassy, New York, 14 October 2019.