Cluster Munitions

Cluster munitions pose significant dangers to civilians for two principal reasons: their
impact at the time of use and their deadly legacy. Launched from the ground or dropped
from the air, cluster munitions consist of containers that open and disperse submunitions
indiscriminately over a wide area, claiming both civilian and military victims. Many explosive submunitions, also known as bomblets, fail to detonate as designed when they are dispersed, becoming de facto landmines that kill and maim indiscriminately long after the conflict has ended and create barriers to socio-economic development.

To protect civilians from the effects of cluster munitions, Norway and a number of likeminded countries initiated a fast-track diplomatic process in late 2006 aimed at creating
a new international treaty. Working in partnership with United Nations (UN) agencies, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and civil society organizations grouped
under the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), the fast-track Oslo Process resulted in the
adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2008.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force on 1 August 2010. It
comprehensively prohibits the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. It also requires destruction of stockpiled cluster munitions within eight years, clearance of cluster munition remnants within 10 years, and assistance to victims, including those injured by submunitions as well as the families of those injured or killed, and affected communities.

The convention’s First Meeting of States Parties was held in November 2010 in the
Lao People’s Democratic Republic—the country with the highest level of contamination
by unexploded submunitions. States Parties adopted the Vientiane Action Plan, a 66-point
action plan to guide their work until the convention’s First Review Conference. The 2015
Dubrovnik Action Plan and the 2021 Lausanne Action Plan were respectively adopted at
the first and second review conferences, listing concrete steps to further implement the
Convention on Cluster Munitions in the periods from 2015 to 2020 and from 2021 to 2026.

Cluster Munition Coalition 

Launched by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in November 2003, the CMC plays a
crucial facilitating role in leading global civil society action in favor of the ban on cluster
munitions. With campaign contacts in more than 100 countries, the CMC works for the full
universalization and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In January
2011, the CMC merged with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) to become the ICBL-CMC, but the CMC and ICBL remain two distinct campaigns.

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor provides research and monitoring for both the CMC
and the ICBL, on the Convention on Cluster Munitions and Mine Ban Treaty respectively.
Created by the ICBL as Landmine Monitor in June 1998, the initiative became the research
and monitoring arm of the CMC in 2008 and changed its name in 2010 to Landmine and
Cluster Munition Monitor, known simply as “the Monitor.”

The Monitor represents the first time that NGOs have come together in a coordinated,
systematic, and sustained way to monitor humanitarian disarmament treaties and to
regularly document progress and problems. Established in recognition of the need for
independent reporting and evaluation, the Monitor has put into practice the concept of civil
society-based verification that is now employed in many similar contexts. It has become
the de facto monitoring regime for both treaties, monitoring and reporting on States
Parties’ implementation and compliance, and more generally, assessing the international
community’s response to the humanitarian problems caused by landmines, cluster
munitions, and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). The Monitor’s reporting complements transparency reporting by states required under the treaties, and reflects the shared view that transparency, trust, and mutual collaboration are crucial elements for the successful eradication of antipersonnel mines and cluster munitions.

The Monitor is not a technical verification system or a formal inspection regime. It is
an attempt by civil society to hold governments accountable for the legal obligations that
they have accepted with respect to antipersonnel mines and cluster munitions. This is done
through extensive data collection and analysis of publicly available information, including
via field missions in some instances. The Monitor works in good faith to provide factual
information about the issues it is monitoring in order to benefit the international community
as a whole. It aims to promote and advance discussion in support of the goal of a world free of landmines and cluster munitions.

A Monitoring and Research Committee provides oversight of the plans and outputs of all
the ICBL-CMC’s research and monitoring, including the Monitor publication content, and acts as a standing committee of the ICBL-CMC Governance Board. The Monitor Editorial Manager, under the ICBL-CMC, is responsible for the coordination and management of research, editing, and production of all the Monitor research products. To prepare this report, an Editorial Team gathered information with the aid of a global reporting network comprised of more than a dozen researchers with the assistance of CMC campaigners.

Unless otherwise specified, all translations were done by the Monitor.

The Monitor is a system that is continuously updated, corrected, and improved, and as
was the case in previous years, the Monitor acknowledges that this ambitious report is
limited by the time, resources, and information sources available. Comments, clarifications,
and corrections from governments and others are sought in the spirit of dialogue and in the
common search for accurate and reliable information on this important subject.

About This Report

This is the 14th annual Cluster Munition Monitor report. It is the sister publication to the
Landmine Monitor report, which has been issued annually since 1999.

Cluster Munition Monitor 2023 covers cluster munition ban policy, use, production,
transfers, and stockpiling globally; and contains information on developments and
challenges in assessing and addressing the impact of cluster munition contamination and
casualties through clearance, risk education, and victim assistance. While its principal frame
of reference is the Convention on Cluster Munitions, other relevant international law is
reviewed, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The
report focuses on the calendar year 2022, with information included up to August 2023
where possible.

As this report was being finalized, South Sudan acceded to the Convention on Cluster
Munitions, which will enter into force for the country on 1 February 2024. Data provided
in the impact review reflects how South Sudan was a non-signatory in 2022. Its status as a
State Party will be fully reflected in the Cluster Munition Monitor 2024 report.

Acknowledgments

A broad-based network of individuals, campaigns, and organizations from around the world
produced this report. It was assembled by a dedicated team of researchers and editors with
the support of a significant number of donors. Country-specific contributions were received
from a network of at least 20 Monitor researchers covering more than 30 countries. The
researchers are cited separately on the Monitor website at www.the-monitor.org.

The Monitor is grateful to everyone who contributed to the research for this report. We
wish to thank the scores of individuals, campaigns, NGOs, international organizations, field
practitioners, and governments who provided us with essential information. We are grateful
to ICBL-CMC staff for their review of the content of this report and their assistance in the
release, distribution, and promotion of Monitor reports.

Content produced by the Monitor was reviewed by members of the Monitoring and
Research Committee comprised of six NGOs, as well as Monitor research team leaders and
ICBL-CMC staff. At the time of publication, the committee’s members were: the Colombian
Campaign to Ban Landmines (Camilo Serna), DanChurchAid (Lene Rasmussen), Danish
Refugee Council (Richard MacCormac), Human Rights Watch (Stephen Goose), Humanity &
Inclusion (Alma Taslidžan), Mines Action Canada (Erin Hunt), Monitor research team leaders
(Ban Policy: Mary Wareham; and Impact: Loren Persi Vicentic), and relevant senior ICBL-CMC staff (Kasia Derlicka-Rosenbauer and Tamar Gabelnick).

During 2022 and the first half of 2023, the Monitoring and Research Committee benefitted
from the participation of Paul Hannon, Marion Loddo, and Hector Guerra.

From January to August 2023, the Monitor’s Editorial Team undertook research, updated
country profiles, and produced thematic overviews for Cluster Munition Monitor 2023. The
Editorial Team included:

• Ban Policy: Mary Wareham, Susan Aboeid, Mark Hiznay, and Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan; and
• Impact: Loren Persi Vicentic, Katrin Atkins, Matthew Armstrong, and Audrey Torrecilla.

This edition also comprises and builds on earlier contributions from Ruth Bottomley and
Marion Loddo through June 2023.

Mary Wareham (Human Rights Watch) provided final editing in July and August 2023
with assistance from Susan Aboeid (Human Rights Watch) and Michael Hart (Publications
Consultant).

The Monitor is particularly grateful for the support of Tamar Gabelnick and Susan Aboeid for
their essential contributions and for ensuring the final production of all elements of this report.

Michael Sherwin provided design for the report and its cover design. Maps were created
by Maria Angela. Heliographie Girard printed the report in Switzerland. The front cover
photograph was provided by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP and back cover photographs provided by
Sabrina Montanvert/HI and Syria Civil Defence. Additional photographs found within Cluster
Munition Monitor 2023 were provided by multiple photographers, cited with each photograph.

We extend our gratitude to Monitor financial contributors. In 2023, this work was made
possible with funding from (list accurate as of 15 August 2023):

• Government of Australia
• Government of Austria
• Government of Canada
• Government of Germany
• Government of New Zealand
• Government of Norway
• Government of Switzerland
• Holy See

The Monitor is also grateful for the support received from private donors.

The Monitor’s supporters are in no way responsible for, and do not necessarily endorse,
the material contained in this report. We also thank the donors who have contributed to the
organizational members of the Monitoring and Research Committee and other participating
organizations.