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Campaign Focus:
Cluster munitions are made up of a single canister containing between a dozen and a few hundred bomblets the size of a drink can.
Cluster bombs’ impact cannot be contained to specific targets. They spread their contents over a perimeter ranging from the equivalent of several football pitches to several hundred hectares, indiscriminately killing or maiming civilians.
Accidents occur when people attempt to move unexploded munitions due to economic necessity, curiosity or social responsibility. Civilians have to clear land for farming or to prevent children from playing with them. For example shepherds, farmers and children collecting firewood are common victims in Afghanistan. In poor communities it is also common for civilians to salvage military debris for their saleable scrap metal.
Key facts on cluster bombs:
• 98% of recorded casualties are civilians.
• 27% of casualties are children.
• 67% casualties are killed or injured in course of earning their livelihood.
• 24 countries and regions are affected by cluster munitions worldwide.
• 5% to 30% of cluster bombs fail to explode on impact.
• 34 countries produce at least 210 different types of cluster bombs and 73 countries stockpile cluster bombs.
• The UK currently stockpiles and exports cluster bombs and used them during the war in Iraq.

Organisation:
The stop cluster bombs campaign is run by Handicap International

Country/ies:
At least 24 countries are affected by cluster bombs:
Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Montenegro, Morocco (Western Sahara), Russian Federation (Chechnya), Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan and Vietnam. Since the 1950s, cluster bombs have been used in many conflicts.
Here are some examples:
• 1960s: The US used cluster bombs in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
• 1960s: France used cluster bombs in Chad
• 1991: The US air force used cluster bombs in Iraq and Kuwait
• 1994-1996: Russia used cluster bombs in Chechnya
• 1995-2000: The Sudanese government used cluster bombs against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army
• 1999: The United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands used cluster bombs in Kosovo
• 2003-2004: The US air force used cluster bombs in Iraq
• 2006: Israel used cluster munitions in Lebanon

Current action:
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Links to information and website:
International
United Kingdom
France
Germany
United States
The Cluster Munitions Coalition