Cluster Munitions

Problems:

• Cluster munitions can indiscriminately harm civilians and civilian objects, violating international humanitarian law.
• They have a high failure rate, leaving behind unexploded ordnance that poses an ongoing danger.
• They make big areas unsafe for a long time, harming countries’ health and economies.

Convention on Cluster Munitions:

• 2008: Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed to outlaw the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of these weapons due to their indiscriminate and long-lasting effects on civilian populations.
• 123 countries joined, but some big ones like India, the US, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Israel didn’t sign.

Why in News:

• The United States has made the decision to give cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package worth up to USD 800 million.