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Clusters and ERW :
SPADO is a member organisation of Clusters Munitions Coalition (CMC) in Pakistan and is involved in various awareness, advocacy and research activities.
THE CLUSTER MUNITION COALITION
The call A new international coalition dealing with the serious humanitarian impact of cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) was launched on 13 November 2003 in The Hague, the Netherlands by eighty-five member organisations from forty-two countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) has a 3-point call to governments which includes:
1. No use, production or trade of cluster munitions until the humanitarian problems associated with the weapons have been resolved;
2. Increased resources for assistance to communities and individuals affected by unexploded cluster munitions and all other explosive remnants of war; and
3. Users of cluster munitions and other munitions that become ERW accept special responsibility for clearance, warnings and markings, risk education, provision of information and victim assistance.
The CMC coalition
The CMC was founded to provide a coordinated, global response to the growing problems created by cluster munitions and other ERW.The CMC is an inclusive coalition open to non-governmental organisations, community groups and professional associations, which support the aims, policy objectives and overall programme of action of the coalition.
The Cluster Munition Coalition will be governed by a small steering committee and will have a number of sub-groups working on various aspects of the ERW issue.
Cluster munitions
Cluster munitions now stand out as the weapon category most in need of stronger national and international regulation in order to protect civilians during armed conflict. The immediate danger that cluster munitions pose to civilians during attacks due to their inaccuracy and wide dispersal pattern, the long-term danger they pose after conflict due to the high number of landmine-like submunitions duds, and the potential future dangers of widespread proliferation demand urgent action to bring the threat of cluster munitions under control.
Cluster munitions pose an especially high risk to civilians in the growing number of conflicts where they have been used. There are thirty-three producers and 58 countries that own cluster munitions around the world.Within the CCW, 39 States Parties and two signatories have stockpiles of cluster munitions and/or are users of them:
Argentina, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt (signatory), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sudan (signatory), Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan.
The extent of the ERW problem
Explosive remnants of war such as abandoned and unexploded ordnance as well as failed cluster submunitions, put innocent lives and livelihoods at risk long after conflict has ended. Unlike landmines, there is currently no provision in international law which addresses the problem of cluster munitions and other ERW and the devastating effect they have on civilian populations.There are at least 92 countries contaminated by unexploded cluster submunitions and other explosive remnants of war in every region of the world. There is on-going conflict in some of these countries but in many cases ERW is from a decade or more ago. There is also a further significant group of countries that have a residual ERW problem, usually from the First and Second World Wars.
This is our problem, not their problem
ERW casualties
Between January 2001 and May 2002 new casualties were reported in 57 countries: fifteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 17 in Europe and Central Asia, 14 in the Middle East and North Africa, six in Asia and five in the Americas.
Socio- economic impact
There is also a significant negative socio-economic impact. Cluster munitions and other ERW compounds development problems and affected communities by modifying their social and economic patterns.
1. The presence of cluster munitions and other ERW prevents the use and rehabilitation of community infrastructure and resources, including housing, water and irrigation systems, villages, schools, places of worship, and the paths and roads between them.
2. Cluster munitions and other ERW deters people from certain types of land use, or makes use of local resources less efficient – affecting economic productivity, and traditional social and economic practices.
3. Most affected communities are in the developing world so they are dealing with cluster munitions and other ERW from very limited resources.
4. Cluster munitions and other ERW may have a value as a resource, e.g. as scrap metal, so people undertake high risk activities for economic survival that may result in death or injury.
Resources
www.hrw.org/arms/clusterbombs.php
www.handicap-international.org/esperanza/site/onglet4/chapitre1/uxo.asp
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