Tuvalu
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
Non-signatory Tuvalu has never commented on its position on joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and has not participated in any meetings of the convention. Tuvalu voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.
Tuvalu is not known to have ever used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
Tuvalu has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Tuvalu has never commented on the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions or elaborated its position on joining the convention.[1]
Tuvalu did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Tuvalu has never attended a meeting of the convention, but has participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently one hosted by the Philippines in Manila in June 2019.[2] Tuvalu attended a regional conference held in Auckland, New Zealand in February 2018, which issued a declaration affirming “the clear moral and humanitarian rationale for joining” the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3]
In December 2021, Tuvalu voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[4] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
Tuvalu has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at use of cluster munitions in Syria.[5]
Tuvalu is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Tuvalu is not known to have ever used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
[1] Officials have indicated that Tuvalu is interested in the convention but faces resource challenges in undertaking the accession process. Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) meeting with Sunema Simati, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Tuvalu to the UN in New York, in Geneva, 24 August 2016.
[2] “Asia-Pacific Workshop on CCM Universalization,” Convention on Cluster Munitions Quarterly Newsletter, April 2019.
[3] According to the declaration, during the meeting “some states not yet party to the Convention undertook to positively consider membership of it.” See, “Auckland Declaration on Conventional Weapons Treaties,” Pacific Conference on Conventional Weapons Treaties, Auckland, 12–14 February 2018.
[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021.
[5] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 75/193, 16 December 2020. Tuvalu voted in favor of similar UNGA resolutions from 2013–2019. It was absent from voting in 2021.