Cluster Munitions
FL Conference on Clusters, October 2008
Religions for Peace Cluster Munitions Programme
“It is not peace when children cannot play safely in their playgrounds.
It is not peace when farmers cannot cultivate their fields, nor fishermen draw their nets without fear.
It is not peace when people cannot move freely in their local communities.”
-from the Statement of the European Faith Leaders Conference on Cluster Munitions, 30 October 2008
Cluster munitions are non-discriminatory weapons that have for more than 60 years killed and wounded innocent people,many of them children, in more than 30 countries. These large weapons contain dozens to hundreds of smaller submunitions within a larger container that opens in the air and scatter over a wide area. Many fail to detonate and remain active on the ground, wherever they land. As such, they continue to inflict injury and death for years – sometimes decades – after the end of a war.
Religions for Peace welcomes the Convention on Cluster Munitions that was signed at the Oslo Conference in December 2008. The Convention prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and sets groundbreaking humanitarian obligations for victim assistance, clearance of contaminated land and destruction of stockpiles. This is the most significant humanitarian and disarmament treaty this decade.
Our Commitment in Action
o Religions for Peace recently completed a Small Grants Programme to support six local and national cluster munitions projects. Read more about the projects here!
o Religions for Peace has developed a Resource Guide on Cluster Munitions to assist religious leaders to take action in a variety of ways. This is available online in our "Resources" section.
o Many religious leaders have been advocating with their respective governments through letter writing and lobbying.
o Leaders of Europe’s major religions met in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in October 2008 to address the issue of cluster munitions and to express support for the process to ban these weapons. Read the report and final statement "Total Ban on Cluster Munitions" below.
o A Religions for Peace delegation participated in the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions, May 2008 where the Convention was adopted. Read the report below.
o Another Religions for Peace delegation was present at the Signing Ceremony in Oslo (December 2008) where 94 governments signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
o More than 60 Religions for Peace leaders signed an international appeal for a ban on cluster munitions in April 2008. The text of this appeal is available below.
The Message
o We call upon all governments to ensure that cluster munitions are banned through signing the treaty, ratifying it, implementing it and contributing in the international work to clean up and dispose of cluster munitions, as well as supporting those affected.
Your Commitment in Action
o Engage with your respective governments and make sure they fulfil their obligations as representatives of the people to sign, ratify or implement the Covention.
o Work through your own faith communities to educate people on this issue and encourage them to be agents of change, working in solidarity with the survivors, their families and communities affected by the menace of cluster munitions. For more ideas on how to contribute, view the Resource Guide available in our Resources Section.
