Cluster munition victims neglected by lack of funding from States
Only 5% (£1.9 million) of the total budget dedicated to combatting cluster munitions has been earmarked for victim assistance, according to Cluster Munition Monitor 2012 , a global report released today.
This is despite the fact that the total number of victims is estimated to be as high as 54,000. Currently, only 13 contaminated countries receive funding to deal with the deadly legacy of these weapons. Handicap International is calling on all States Parties, including the UK, to allocate the resources necessary to meet current needs.
Launched today in London, the Cluster Munition Monitor 2012 provides an annual overview of progress in the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions worldwide. The report provides an overview of international funding for action against cluster munitions and highlights the link between the lack of funding and the absence of progress in the field of victim assistance. Less than £38 million has been allocated to cluster munitions by 21 States this year, and less than 5% of this sum was dedicated to victim assistance, a figure that falls far short of the needs identified by Handicap International’s teams in the field.
“Today’s report reminds us that there are between 20,000 and 54,000 cluster munition victims. The survivors need life-long assistance, access to care and support achieving socio-economic inclusion. Their families and communities also need help. The situation is all the more alarming given that 94% of cluster munition victims are civilians, 40% of whom are children”, explains Aleema Shivji, Director of Handicap International UK.
Moreover, less than a third of States contaminated by these weapons have benefited from international funding for clearance. Countries like Cambodia, Iraq and Kosovo, although among the most contaminated countries in the world, have not received funding. Others such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lebanon have drastically reduced their victim assistance services. Handicap International is deeply concerned about the lack of commitment of contributor States despite the seriousness of this problem.
After almost 70 years of use, 41 countries and territories are still contaminated by these weapons. The work of clearing these countries of cluster munitions is long and painstaking. In 2011, organisations involved in demining, such as Handicap International, cleared an average of around 1 sq.km per week (0.39 sq. miles). These operations have led to the destruction of around 50,000 submunitions. Handicap International’s teams have many years of hard work ahead of them to finally rid these countries of these terrible weapons.
The most significant advances mentioned in this report refer to the destruction of stockpiles of cluster munitions. Since the entry into force of the Convention on 1st August 2010, States Parties have destroyed over two thirds of their stocks, representing around 90 million cluster munitions. This underlines the effectiveness of this convention in preventing the future use of these weapons and the involvement of former producer countries in their destruction.
Handicap International is calling on all countries to join the Convention as soon as possible so that the example given by the States Parties provides a model for other countries. The United States alone currently possesses between 800 million and 1 billion submunitions. If these weapons are ever used, it would cause a disaster on an unprecedented scale.
Press contact
Tom Shelton
Email: tom.shelton@hi-uk.org
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About Handicap International
Handicap International is an international aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations in over 60 countries worldwide, we take action and raise awareness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. Handicap International is a co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize and a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
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