Banning Cluster Bombs: the Campaign and the Treaty

Cluster bombs, widely used for the past 40 years and still manufactured today, are deadly weapons that indiscriminately shower a wide area with shrapnel and dangerous explosives. Any portions of the bombs that do not detonate on impact become landmines that can remain a live threat for decades to follow. In early 2010, the Convention on Cluster Munitions reached the 30 national ratifications necessary to impose a ban on their production or deployment, and the treaty came into effect on August 1, 2010. However, many of the biggest producers of cluster bombs, including the United States, Russia, China, and Israel, have not signed or ratified the treaty. Watch our short film about the devastating consequences of these weapons, the landmark Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the work that remains to be done.