Ten-Year Review: The Gambia ratified the convention on 25 June 2018. It has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2018. The Gambia voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2019.

In its initial transparency report for the convention provided in November 2019, the Gambia formally confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions and does not possess any, or stockpiles, including for training and research purposes. The Gambia has never used or transferred cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of the Gambia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified it on 11 December 2018, and the convention entered into force for the Gambia on 1 June 2019.

The Gambia reported in November 2019 that it is considering if specific legislation is needed to guide and enforce its implementation of the convention. The Gambia affirmed that it “is aware of its obligations” under the convention and will “take all appropriate legal, administrative and other measures to implement” it.[1]

The Gambia provided its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention in November 2019.[2]

The Gambia attended two meetings of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It did not participate in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, but signed the convention in Oslo in December 2008.[3]

The Gambia ratified the convention less than two years after September 2017, when it apologized for the delays and said it would be able to complete its ratification process as the establishment of the new government meant there was now strong “political will” to do so.[4]

The Gambia has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2018.[5] It was invited to, but did not attend the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019.

In December 2019, the Gambia voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging full implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6] Previously, it voted in favor of the annual resolution promoting the convention in 2015 and 2018, but was absent from the vote in 2016–2017.

The Gambia has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2019.[7]

The Gambia has not expressed its views on certain important issues relating to its interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and the need for retention of cluster munitions for training and development purposes.

The Gambia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In its initial transparency report for the convention, the Gambia formally confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions and does not possess any stockpiles, including for training and research purposes.[8] The Gambia has repeatedly stated that it has never used, produced or transferred cluster munitions.[9]