UN / CLUSTER MUNITIONS

The UN-backed convention banning the use of cluster munitions will enter into force on 1 August after the 30th country ratified the pact, a move that was immediately welcomed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as "a major advance on the global disarmament agenda." FILE

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:00
• Production Date: 17 February 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SUDAN - UNMIS; UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF; UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• MAMS Id: U100217d

Description

STORY: UN / CLUSTER MUNITIONS
TRT: 1.00
SOURCE: UNTV / UNMIS / UNHCR / UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: FILE

Shotlist

FILE – UNTV – FEBRUARY 2008, RAJAF REGION, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Wide shot, de-mining dog at work with handler

FILE – UNMIS – 25 NOVEMBER 2008, MALAKAL, SOUTH SUDAN

2. Med shot, “danger mines” sign

FILE – UNTV – FEBRUARY 2008, RAJAF REGION, SOUTH SUDAN

3. Zoom in, landmine
4. Close up, landmine

FILE – UNHCR – 26 AUGUST 2008 - AITA AL JABAL, LEBANON

9. Various shots, searching for cluster bombs
10. Various shots, cluster bombs
11. Wide shot, de-miner climbing down from rubble
12. Various shots, clearing of a cluster bomb and explosion

FILE – UNICEF – OCTOBER 2008, AFGHANISTAN

13. Various shots, landmine clearing

FILE – UNMIS – 25 NOVEMBER 2008, MALAKAL, SOUTH SUDAN

14. Med shot, UN de-miner working
15. Close up, explosive ready for demolition
16. Med shot, anti-tank and anti-personnel
17. Wide shot, blast

Storyline

The United Nations-backed convention banning the use of cluster munitions will enter into force on 1 August after the 30th country ratified the pact on Tuesday (16 Feb).

Burkina Faso and Moldova both submitted their instruments of ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions at UN Headquarters in New York, ensuring that the pact prohibiting explosive remnants of war known as either cluster munitions or unexploded ordnance (UXO) becomes part of international law.
First used in the Second World War, cluster munitions contain dozens of smaller explosives designed to disperse over an area the size of several football fields, but often fail to detonate upon impact, creating large de facto minefields. They are also notoriously inaccurate.

The failure rate makes these weapons particularly dangerous for civilians, who continue to be maimed or killed for years after conflicts end. Some 98 per cent of victims are civilians and cluster bombs have claimed over 10,000 civilian lives, 40 per cent of whom are children.

Recovery from conflict is also hampered because the munitions place roads and lands off-limits to farmers and aid workers.