For years, the world has known about the devastating effects of cluster munitions on civilians"and particularly children. The little "bomblets" that don't explode on impacts are deadly remnants of war, waiting for children to step on them or pick them up"and then lose a limb or a life.
 |
| UNICEF/ HQ06-1172/Dina Debbas |
| LEBANON: A boy stands near an unexploded cluster bomb, marked off by two bricks, in the southern village of Yohmor. |
For years, the world has known about the devastating effects of cluster munitions on civilians"and particularly children. The little "bomblets" that don't explode on impacts are deadly remnants of war, waiting for children to step on them or pick them up"and then lose a limb or a life.
|
| UNICEF/ HQ06-1172/Dina Debbas |
| LEBANON: A boy stands near an unexploded cluster bomb, marked off by two bricks, in the southern village of Yohmor. |
For years, the world has known about the devastating effects of cluster munitions on civilians"and particularly children.
The little "bomblets" that don't explode on impact are deadly remnants of war, waiting for children to step on them or pick them up"and then lose a limb or a life. |
| UNICEF/ HQ06-1172/Dina Debbas |
| LEBANON: A boy stands near an unexploded cluster bomb, marked off by two bricks, in the southern village of Yohmor. |
Just more than a year ago, frustrated with the inability of the United Nations to address cluster munitions, Norway launched its own process to develop an international treaty that would ban these weapons. In May 2008, representatives of 110 nations met in Dublin, Ireland, and agreed on a draft Convention on Cluster Munitions that would commit their governments to stop using cluster munitions and to destroy their existing stockpiles within eight years. More than 100 states formally committed to support the Convention"including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
The U.S. Government did not attend the negotiations.Click here to read the text of the Convention. (Requires Adobe Reader)
|  |
| UNICEF/ HQ01-0658/Shehzad Noorani |
|
AFGHANISTAN: An unexploded Blu-97 bomblet lies on the ground, near the western city of Herat. A powerful anti-tank and anti-personnel submunition, the bomblet is part of a larger cluster bomb that is usually dropped during an air strike and should detonate on impact. This one did not. |
The formal signing of the treaty will take place in Oslo in early December 2008. For the treaty to enter into force, it must be ratified by 30 countries.
UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson welcomed the adoption of the treaty. "This is an important treaty and UNICEF calls on all governments to sign and ratify it as quickly as possible," she said. She noted that roughly
40 percent of victims of cluster bombs are children who are injured or killed long after direct hostilities end.
The best way to show the U.S. Government and the world that American citizens care about preventing civilian casualties from cluster bombs is by asking Members of Congress to support the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act.
