400 million people in 25 countries affected by unexploded cluster munitions

A BAN ON CLUSTER BOMBS
Jonas Gahr Store
http://www.ipsnews.net/columns.asp?idnews=37960

JUNE 2007 (IPS) - According to a new report from Handicap International an estimated 400 million people in 25 countries are directly or indirectly affected by unexploded cluster munitions, writes Jonas Gahr Store, Foreign Minister of Norway.

Wars and conflicts always hit civilian populations hardest. Certain types of weapons, such as landmines and cluster munitions, affect civilians particularly severely. While an international ban on landmines has been introduced, there is as yet no corresponding ban on cluster munitions. This we need to change, because unexploded munitions from cluster bombs is really anti-personnel landmines in disguise. According to the United Nations Development Programme, 27 countries are currently affected by cluster munitions. Such munitions create severe humanitarian and development problems, besides maiming and killing civilians: agricultural areas cannot be cultivated without risk to life and health, and refugees are unable to return to the homes from which they fled.

As a first step towards an international ban on cluster munitions, Norway hosted an international conference in Oslo in February 2007. A total of 46 of the 49 participating countries endorsed the Oslo Declaration on cluster munitions, which advocates a ban on cluster munitions by the end of 2008.