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WHY are they banned?

Used in more than 35 countries, cluster bombs have killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians and devastated the livelihoods of countless more. Over 380 million bomblets were used in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s, and many of these are still killing people today. In the past decade cluster bombs have been used in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Georgia, Cambodia, Libya, South Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen, and in Syria.  

In 2008 governments negotiated an international treaty, formally known as the Convention on Cluster Munitions, that bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster bombs. As of June 2024, 124 states have joined the Convention.  

Article 1(1)c of the Convention prohibits to assist anyone in any activity banned under the Convention. Financing companies that produce cluster munitions is clearly an act of assistance in the production of cluster munitions, and should therefore be considered to be prohibited by the Convention.  Read more about our campaign which contributed to stop money flowing to the production of cluster bombs here.