Lao PDR is one of the countries worse affected by the legacy of cluster munitions. Widespread aerial bombing and intense battles on the ground during the Indochina war years (1964 – 1973) has left millions of unexploded cluster bombs in Laos. Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) is the term used for the bombs which still litter the soil and represent huge risk to the lives of thousands of people.
These undetonated bombs still threat the people of Lao and hinder its development. Laos is by far the most bombed country in the world, compared with the number of inhabitants. Every year 300 people die or get injured from unexploded bombs, and since 1964 there have been 50 000 incidents of deaths or injuries caused by UXOs.
The government of Lao PDR increasingly takes action to deal with this dire problem, and Norway is grateful for the active commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Laos has been a driving force in the promotion of the Convention, which prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions. Separate articles in the Convention especially concern assisting victims, clearing contaminated areas and destroying stockpiles.
The Norwegian Government initiated the process towards an international ban on cluster munitions, through what is known as the Oslo process. The Oslo process came about as a response to the humanitarian problem caused by the use of cluster munitions. A real measure of the Convention on Cluster munitions will be, and should be the actual difference the Convention makes on the ground in affected communities. The Convention bans a weapon, but is first and foremost about people. The Convention is about preventing people becoming victims of cluster munitions.
In 2008, the Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted in Dublin and signed in Oslo, and the Convention became binding international law when it entered into force on 1 August 2010.
On 9-12 November 2010, Laos hosted the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This international conference took place in Vientiane.
To date, 108 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and 46 have ratified it.
Norway strongly encourages the signing and ratification of the Convention.
Read more about the Convention on Cluster Munitions here.